Kazoku from Dimension X
by Rachel Lyse Brook
Summary: After returning from Dimension X, the Hamato clan finds itself tripled in number. Join Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey on the ups and downs of an increasingly complicated family life all while trying to stop the Kraang and Shredder from destroying it all. AU. Season 2/Season 3. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. R&R
1. Prologue

((A/N: Hi Guys! Rachel Brook here with Renee, posting our first story together!

This is an OC fanfiction with OCs abounding. If you do not like them, you do not have to read.

Just as a reminder, this is an AU. The story will be similar, but not the same as canon. There will be details from the canon in here. Just bear with us as we try to explain in the coming chapters.

Enjoy!))

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Prologue:

_I hate this…I hate the dark…I hate the glass…I hate these strange creatures that refuse to let us sleep at night…_

_But most of all, I hate hearing the screams of the little ones…_

"Kraang, is the test subject ready for the test that is the test that is given by Kraang?"

"Yes, Kraang. Proceed with the test given by Kraang."

A loud shriek echoed through the pinkish darkness.

_M2…_

"_Stop it! Stop hurting the baby!"_ I beat on the glass, unseen and unheard by these metal maniacs.

And I'm not the only one… M1, across the way, is also banging on the glass, ramming his shoulder and shell into the glass that I knew wasn't going to break under his little weight. D1, the other little turtle in the same tank was attempting to stop the smaller turtle from hurting himself, a method to which he was failing.

In the tank next to me, the other three newest turtles were crying and sitting on the glass. I wasn't sure why, but L2 seemed to be crying more so than the others.

I should probably explain who and where I am.

These creatures, the Kraang as they call themselves, are our captors and creators. I don't remember much of my creation, but I know I was not the first one…nor the last. I am the oldest survivor of the Kraang's turtle experiments.

They call me C3.

Around me in the other three glass chambers are 7 other turtles.

The one across the way from me holds two young males, the Kraang refer to them as D1 and M1, though I'm not sure why.

In the glass chamber beside them are two females, like me, but much younger. The Kraang call them L1 and R1.

And lastly, in the chamber beside me are 3 baby turtles, two males and one female, L2, R2, D2 respectively. There is usually a fourth little girl, and that is the one that is screaming. They call her M2.

From what I can gather, the twos are related to the ones with the same letter. I don't know why I am different…and maybe I'll never know.

I do wish the big Alligator, the one the Kraang call Leatherhead, would come back. I felt so much safer with him around.

As if called by my thoughts…a large, leathery figure burst through the door of the lab. I could have recognized the roar that filled the room from a mile away. Granted, M2's cries were distressing…but maybe she would be safe now.

"LEATHERHEAD!" I cried through the glass, knowing he wouldn't be able to hear me very well unless I yelled, banging harder.

The large, older looking alligator turned his eyes to my cage. "M2! SHE'S IN THERE!" I continued, pointing at the door of the lab where the screams still echoed.

The alligator's eyes went white, and within minutes, he had the door ripped off and dove into the room. There was the sound of Kraang droids being ripped apart and then…silence… The seconds ticked by, feeling longer than simple seconds….

And then Leatherhead emerged, carrying M2 in his arms. She was okay. Leatherhead pressed a button on the wall, causing the glass cages to open. M1 ran to the large alligator and reached up for the littlest turtle, whom Leatherhead gingerly turned over with a pat on M1's head.

The other littlest turtles stumbled over to me and I lifted them up into my arms, nuzzling them gently before looked at Leatherhead. "Thank you, Leatherhead."

The large reptile nodded. "C3, children, it has been a while." He continued to pat M1's head. "I'm sorry that I couldn't come faster, are you alright?"

M2 cooed and smiled up at M1 and batted his face with her hand. M1 chuckled in relief, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Have you come to take us, Misthter Latherhead?" D1 asked, his voice lisping on the name.

Leatherhead smiled sadly. "No, little one…I don't have a means of getting to a safe place just yet. But I do have contacts…If I can get in touch with them, then I will be able to get all of you out of here."

I nodded and peaked into the Kraang lab, there was a large white orb sitting on one of the desks. I ran into the room and grabbed it. Shoving it into Leatherhead's arms, I pulled the children away. "Here. Get in touch with your contacts and get us out of here."

Leatherhead nodded and attempted to get it working….Frowning as he did so. "I'm not in range. They have a communication orb…but I'll need to try outside. Maybe there I'll be able to find something to increase the signal."

I nodded and signaled the children to move closer to me. "Then I'll find a place for the children and I to hide."

Leatherhead returned the nod. "Keep these little ones safe, C3. I'll find you soon."

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((We hope you enjoyed our first chapter! Please tell us what you think, good or bad :)

Will continue soon!

~R and R))


	2. Chapter 1: Enter the Turtles

A/N: To clarify something: In this chapter, our beloved turtles will appear. We are going off of the assumption that one season = one year. So until the events of season 3, the turtles of this story will be 16 years old. This does not reflect on our opinion of their ages in the show (which we consider them to be 15 until told otherwise by the illustrious creators). Please don't grab us by the face and shake us like a rag doll.

WE OWN NOTHING!

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Chapter 1

C3, gripping tightly to L1's hand, ran through the Kraang Compound, searching for a way out, keeping her eyes peeled for Traag and Granitor, the ones assigned to guard the compound. The 1s were carrying their smaller siblings, seeing as they wouldn't be able to keep up with their longer legged siblings.

Stopping at a corner near the exit, C3 lifted a hand for the 1s to stop, then motioned for them to be quiet. Peeking around the corner, she spotted a highly inconspicuous and difficult to spot alcove, not that far away. Looking around for any cameras or Kraang, and finding none, she gestured for the children to follow her.

Making their way carefully across the hallway and into the alcove, C3 shoved the smaller ones into the space. "Stay here. R1, you are in charge until I get back."

"What?" M1 whined.

"You heard her." R1 replied in a snarky tone. "I'm in charge."

"Watch out for each other and stay hidden, okay?"

"Okay C3." R1 replied, the snarky tone gone, replaced by seriousness.

L2 squirmed in his sister's arms, reaching for the oldest clone. "C-C!"

C3 reached over and hushed the smallest boy. "I'll be right back, L2. Stay with your sister."

"C-C! C-C!" The older L placed a thumb in the baby's mouth, hoping to keep him quiet.

C3 nodded to them and quickly vanished into the darkness, searching for a way out.

* * *

"T-Turtles, the Kr-Kraang have perfected the mutagen, they're about to-" Leatherhead's glitchy voice echoed through Donatello's lab. This was clearly the large mutant alligator's way of sending an SOS.

"Leatherhead! He's alive!" Michelangelo exclaimed joyfully.

"It must be the portal! As soon as it opened, his signal came through!"

"Let's go! He needs us!"

"Mikey, you stay here."

"Why?"

"You've been messing up too much, lately. We can't take the chance…that you could get hurt."

"Aw man…Leatherhead…"

"MIKEY!"

"AFTER HIM!"

Before they knew it, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello tumbled out into the pink skied universe of Dimension X.

"Come on. We've gotta find Mikey!" Raph said, setting the way towards the small planetoid they wanted to start on.

* * *

_Okay…okay…gotta find an exit. Don't panic…they are gonna be just fine…don't worry about M2 getting away…just…calm…down._

Unfortunately, the silent mantra wasn't working all that well, and C3 found herself suddenly surrounded by Kraang.

_How did they find me?!_

"Kraang, Kraang has found one of the captives known as the clones. It is the one called clone C3. Kraang will bring clone C3 back to that which is known as the Kraang's lab by Kraang."

_NO! NO NO! This was NOT how this was to turn out!_

The Kraang surrounded her on all sides, leaving no way for her to escape. Two seized C3's arms and dragged the struggling turtle away.

Throwing her unceremoniously back in her cage was just the right amount of insult to injury. And looking around the room, C3 saw Traag and Granitor tossing R1 and M1 into their respective cages.

"LET ME GO, GRANITOR!" R1 shouted at the large rock monster, attempting to swipe at it. "You big bully!"

"You better not scratch my shell, Traag!" M1 shouted in kind. "I just polished it!"

The others were already in their cages, the babies wailing beside C3 while the older ones seemed more outraged than upset.

Soon, Traag and Granitor made their way to their posts, guarding them once more. Tricking them once was luck…a second attempted wouldn't be possible unless they were distracted by something outside of this room.

_Stupid stupid stupid!_

Time passed and each of the clones fell quiet, sinking back into their cages. R1 and L1 attempted to amuse themselves by making condensation pictures while M1 and D1 stuck to twiddling their thumbs. The babies curled up together and quickly fell asleep, much to C3's reli—

That's when the doors opened and two Kraang stepped inside. C3, instantly on edge, stood.

"Kraang, the test, which is known as the test, is ready for the one known as clone D2."

"Affirmative, Kraang. Kraang will collect the clone which is known as D2 for the test which is the test which will be given by Kraang."

And C3 went berserk. Banging on the glass, hoping it would shatter so she could ring the necks of these psychotic globules of brain-like sputum that had held them too long. They had killed two of them already, and D2 wasn't nearly as strong physically as the others. M2 may be the baby, but C3 was convinced that D2 has some sort of condition.

The Kraang bots reached into the cage where the babies slept and yanked the infant turtle they sought, waking the others. Once the babies saw what happened, they began to wail, which woke the older ones from their stupor, who shoot to their feet and join me in banging and screaming, pleading for D2's life.

The Kraang do not heed the clones and take the screaming D2 to the room next door.

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Please Read and Review!

Thanks!

~Rachel and Renee


	3. Chapter 2

Hello all! Rachel and Renee here! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2:

Finding Mikey was the easy part, finding Leatherhead proved to be more difficult.

"Ok, I've got good news and bad news." Mikey said, hanging upside down from his launch worm.

"What's the good news?" Leo asked.

"There's thousands of Kraang droids in there."

"I said GOOD news!"

"I know." Suddenly Traag and Granitor appeared in the doorways. "That's the bad news."

Mikey, seeming to have a serious super power here in Dimension X, took care of the large monsters with ease and then lead them into the Kraang compound. White eyes and stealth lead them right to Leatherhead's cell. Stopping the Kraang from torturing the large, aged alligator sighed in relief.

"Thank you, my friends."

"Dude, what happened to you? Did you forget to moisturize or something? You look so…much older…" Mikey said, genuine concern for his friend flooding his voice.

"I have been here for many decades, disrupting and finding out the Kraang's plans."

"Wait…So that means that…time must pass here differently than in our dimension." Donnie concluded.

"Correct." Leatherhead replied. "And I need your help."

"What? Rescuing you wasn't help enough?" Raph asked, sarcastically.

Leatherhead growled at Raph. "The Kraang's plan ran deeper than we originally thought. Not only do they plan on taking over the world, they…" Leatherhead paused. "Maybe…it's better if I show you."

The four turtles looked at each other and followed after the aged reptile.

* * *

Leatherhead lead the four teens down an increasingly darkening hallway, a hallway that remained somewhat silent until a world shattering scream echoed down it.

Almost without warning, Leatherhead growled something incoherent, and Mikey noticed the "crazy eyes" come out. The large gator charged down the hallway, stealth no longer an option. Mikey and his brothers were hot on his heels.

Though it was Donnie that was visibly shaken by the scream.

It…It reminded him of April's scream…

They arrived at a large metal door and Leatherhead immediately started trying to tear it down. Donnie, who noticed the dilemma, attempted to access the access panel beside the door…only to be pushed out of the way by Raph, who unceremoniously smashed the panel to bits, forcing the door to open.

Leatherhead charged into the room, followed by Mikey, bang rocks at the ready. "BOOYAKASHA!"

Leo, Raph and Donnie followed a fraction later, weapons drawn and white eyed.

Only to be met by 4 glass cages housing…turtles…

And not just any turtles…

_Mutant turtles…_

"LEATHERHEAD!" An older female screamed from her individual cage. "SHE'S IN THERE! D2! THEY TOOK HER! _SAVE HER!_"

Needless to say, the crazy eyes were back, and Mikey took charge. "Donnie! Get these turtles out of here!"

"Roger that!" Donnie replied, turning to another access panel and covering it before Raph attempted to break it. "NOT THIS ONE! You could hurt them!"

Raph thought about it and stepped away. He looked around the room, suddenly two people short.

Leatherhead, with Mikey right behind him, had burst into the room next door, smoke pouring out and the sound of Kraang droids and screams echoing all the louder.

Donnie's fingers moved at frightening speeds, trying his best to get the—GOT IT!

Soon the glass around the turtles fell away, and Raph and Leo found themselves having to bar the door to the other room as 5 turtles, ranging in height from just shorter than Donnie to about the top of Raph's leg.

A difficult feat, but they managed…kinda.

Suddenly, all sound from the other room stops. The whirling of Kraang droids to the screams.

All of it stops.

And silence descends…

Before a large shadow appears behind the two ninjas, and a deep voice is heard. "I have her."

* * *

From that point, things fell into a chaos of sorts.

C3 and D1 were pulling at Leatherhead, wanting to hold the baby. The large gator willingly surrendered the baby to the older D, before being swamped by questions and whines of the little ones.

"Who these guys, Mister Leatherhead?" R1 demanded.

"Why they look like us, Mister Leatherhead?" M1 asked, staring at Mikey.

L1 was pulling on Leatherhead's scales. "Mister Leatherhead! Mister Leatherhead!"

Meanwhile, the babies were having the time of their lives. M2 had managed to crawl over to Mikey and latch herself onto one of his legs. Mikey, who wasn't quite sure if he should squeal at the cuteness or shake her off, was in a bit of a pickle.

Raph, on the other hand, was having a problem of his own. Seeing as R2 had made his way over to the large turtle and had proceeded to smack his legs. And for a little guy, he had quite the arm.

After a few moments of pain shooting through his leg, Raph finally looks down and actually kicks a the kid. Which only leads to R2 smacking him harder.

"Aw crud nuggets," The red banded turtle muttered and picked up the sprite by one of those strong arms. "_What_ exactly_ is going on here?"_

Leo in a slight state of confusion, looked around at the chaos, not really sure what exactly to do, just surveyed the craziness until his eyes caught set of large blue eyes staring up at him. A very cute L2 had made his way over to the leader in blue and proceed to stare at Leo, with the cutest puzzled expression on his face.

It took all the discipline of years of ninja training to not reach down and coo at the smaller turtle. But the leader in blue could not help but aw at the baby. "_Kawaii!_" He muttered, hoping that Raph wouldn't hear him.

Raph was having enough problems of his own to hear the Japanese word. R2 was stronger than he looked and had managed to use Raph's arm like a tree limb, swinging repeatedly, attempting to kick the older turtle in the face.

"Leatherhead! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" The turtle proceeded to rage as he tried to stop the baby.

Leatherhead was also having problems of his own. R1 and M1 hadn't stopped their verbal assault, pounding the aged alligator with a million and one questions, while L1 seemed content to pull lightly at Leatherhead's arm.

It was at her, that his patience ran out.

"What do you want, L1?!"

The tone of the large gator effectively silenced the room. L1, mid pull, looked down in embarrassment, played with her hand for a moment before looking up, sheepishly. "I'm hungry…"

Leatherhead, trying to the best of his ability to not explode, patted the child on the head. "In time, L1. We will be out of here and get some food."

Mikey, who had sort of snapped out of his cute stupor, was the first to agree. "We should probably find an exit, before the 'you-know-who' come back."

R1 and M1 looked at each other and gave a questioning look at Mikey. "Traag and Granitor?" They asked.

"No." The Kraang garbed Mikey replied, bouncing M2 in his arms "The K-dudes."

To which, Mikey only received blank stares.

C3, understanding what Mikey was talking about, leaned down and whispers in M1 and R1's ears, "The Kraang."

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They replied in unison.

"Why didn't you just say so?" R1 asked.

"Long story. It, and my face, can wait." Donnie replied.

"Let's move." Leo said, katana drawn in one hand and L2 in the other.

* * *

"Donnie! Got a power source for your Turtle Mech!"

"Mikey, you are a genius."

On the roof top of the building, the 13 turtles stood to a certain extent. Mikey casually hanging off the building, M2, who still thought they were in Dimension X and had attempted to crawl off the edge of the building, snug in Mikey's arm.

Leatherhead, with R1, R2, D1 and D2 hanging off of his arms, climbed carefully to the roof and set the four turtles down.

Leo, watching the proceedings, still had L2 snug in his arms, who was nuzzling him.

C3 and Donnie stood studying each other not too far away. A million questions to be asked, but not sure how to word them. D1 made his way over to C3 and pulled at her hand. "Yes, D1." C3 asked.

"Why is he so tall?" D1 one asked, not too quietly, looking pointedly at Donnie.

Raph, skulking a bit, stood with his arms crossed, because of the lack of answers. M1 and L1 had noticed this, and proceeded to make funny faces at the stone faced, red masked turtle.

"So…I guess I'll just ask the question everyone wants to know the answer to…" Leo started off, looking pointedly at Leatherhead. "Who are these turtles and what is going on?"

Leatherhead nodded towards the leader in blue. "All will be answered. Please, let us go to your place of refuge before I tell this tale."

Leo, looking at Raph, Donnie and Mikey – who each nodded, turned to Leatherhead and nodded. "Alright. Let us be quick."

L2 tapped on Leo's plastron, prompting the leader to look down at him. Once L2 had Leo's attention, he smiled and promptly pronounced, "Mop Mop!"

* * *

And that's all for now! Please leave us a review! We'd love to know what you guys think!

~R &amp; R


	4. Chapter 3

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter!

The only things we own are Turtles from Dimension X! All other characters belong to Nickelodeon and all associated with TMNT.

We're just dabbling in the sand box!

Enjoy! ~R &amp; R

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Chapter 3: A Very Interesting Tale

The journey to the lair was uneventful, and for once, Leo was glad that Master Splinter had confined himself to his room. Considering that since the number of turtles had tripled, the sound level had also tripled.

Leatherhead had attempted to herd the children into Donnie's lab, one of the larger rooms that was also decently sound proof.

L1, holding on to Leatherhead's hand, leads the way.

D1, holding a rather curious D2, followed Leatherhead's lead.

R1, holding tightly to a tight gripped R2, was a bit more hesitant, considering the foreign environment, but eventually fell into step behind the mutant gator.

M2, still in Mikey's arms, was demanding that the older turtle toss her into the air. "UP! UP!"

"No!" Mikey replied, scared he would drop her.

M1, noticing Mikey's dilemma, waltzed over and held out his arms. "Come here, Emmie."

Mikey willingly handed the child over to the slightly older child, who proceeded to do exactly as M2 demanded, leaving Mikey dumbfounded.

L2, still snuggled in Leo's arms, with no signs of wanting to move, stuck his thumb in his mouth, which Leo gently pulled out. The baby, not liking this turn of events, started to fuss. C3, noticing the rising problem, walked over to Leo. "Turn him towards me, I got this."

Leo, not having any other reason not to, turned the infant towards C3, who made an exaggerated wide smile at L2 before covering her eyes.

"Where's L2?" She asked. "Where'd he go?" After a moment, she removed her hands from her eyes and smiled widely at L2. "THERE HE IS!"

That got the baby to laugh. She did it two more times before the baby completely forgot about his thumb.

"Alright, children," Leatherhead summoned from the center of Donnie's lab. "Donatello, do you have any comfy pillows for these young ones to sit on?"

The tallest turtle nods and drags Mikey to help him carry pillows. Raph keeps close to the door, where he can keep an eye on everyone. Leo, to go and assist his brothers, reluctantly hands over L2 to C3. The baby proceeds to fuss, and no amount of peek-a-boo is enough to console him until Leo is back in his line of sight.

It took a couple of minutes before the three teenagers returned with a large pile of comfy and worn pillows. Placing them in a circle around Leatherhead, L1 was the first to sit, a sign of trust. D1, M1 and C3 followed the child's lead, and R1, grudgingly, did so after a moment.

Leo, Donnie and Mikey retreated to stand by Raph.

Leatherhead nodded as everyone got comfortable. "This tale is long overdue." The aged mutant said, leaning heavily on his cane. "First, I should begin by introducing our hosts." Leatherhead started, gesturing towards the masked turtles. "The blue masked one is Leonardo."

D1 raised his hand.

"Yes, D1?" Leatherhead acknowledged.

"What's blue?"

Leatherhead let out a sigh. "The one on the far left is Leonardo."

"Ohhhhh…"

"Beside him is Raphael, then Donatello, and finally, Michelangelo."

As D1 heard all the names, his eyes widened.

"And it seems only fair to also introduce the turtles you have welcomed into your home, sons of Splinter." Reaching beside him, he placed a large, webbed hand on L1's head. With his other hand, he gestured to C3. "This is the oldest, C3. She had two older siblings, C1 and C2…but…they are no longer among us."

D1, M1, L1 and R1 simultaneously bowed their heads briefly at the mention of C1 and C2.

C3 dropped her gaze at the mention of her siblings, holding L2 a bit tighter in her arms.

Leatherhead reached out and beckoned R1 towards him. The stubborn turtle did as she was told, begrudgingly and came to stand by the aged gator. "This is R1, with her brother R2. She is the next oldest." Leatherhead gestured to D1, who did not stand, but nodded at the acknowledgement. "D1 with D2, his sister." The gator proceeded to rub L1's head, affectionately. "This is L1 with L2 in the arms of C3. And finally," Leatherhead gestured to M1 who was desperately trying to keep M2 sitting in his lap. "M1 and M2."

M1 seized M2's hand and waved it at the masked turtles. "Say hi, Emmie!"

Mikey blinked, and waved at the small Ms. "Hi!"

"And now that we are all introduced…I can proceed with the story."

* * *

Leatherhead's gruff voice was somehow very soothing when it came to storytelling. Even M2, as rambunctious as she was, calmed at the story, her eyes focused on the large gator.

With both hands on his cane, the massive mutant began his story.

"It began two years ago, Earth time, which runs much slower here, children, then in Dimension X, Leonardo, his brothers and I infiltrated a Kraang lab. We needed to stop them from bringing Traag to Earth. When they arrived, they were not familiar with the Kraang air as you are, and passed out.

"While unconscious, the Kraang originally intended to harm the turtles, but instead decided to collect spit from each of them for experimentation."

Donnie's eyes widened, he was beginning to guess what happened next, but kept his mouth shut.

"When Traag and I returned here and the turtles were forced to retreat, a Kraang slipped through the portal, with the vials. Almost immediately, the Kraang began to experiment on the DNA from the spit and attempted to combine the four codes to make a super turtle. Two of these attempts failed, but one did survive."

C3, who had heard this story before, bowed her head slightly.

"Nine Kraang years passed before another Kraang theorized that maybe they didn't have to combine the DNA in order to create a super turtle, but could simply enhance the DNA they already had. Their first attempts were more successful than the combined experiments. While they were good, the Kraang wanted perfect, and attempted again after 7 more years of enhancing the DNA and delays by their main plan of taking over Earth."

Mikey, entranced by the story didn't mind being a bit lost. Leo was trying to piece together the almost cryptic answer that Leatherhead was trying to explain. Donnie had more and more data to support the assumption he'd already come up with. And Raph was paying attention with feigned interest.

"The most recent batch of clones proved to be what the Kraang were looking for, because when I stormed into the lab earlier, there was no sign of any other experiments being started."

"Granted, you did smash everything to bits, Leatherhead." Mikey cut in. "They probably won't be able to do that experiment again, right D?"

Donnie shrugged. "Hopefully it was the only lab with that information."

"If it wasn't, Donatello, I will need your help in removing it from the Kraang's data base."

The purple masked turtle nodded.

"Sorry to interrupt," R1 butted in. "But what does this have to do with anything? We all know this story! We are those experiments!"

"He's trying to tell us, R1, that Raphael is your father." D1 butted in.

The whole room went dead quiet.

"Whoa, whoa. Back up." Raph began. "How am I her father? Brother I'd get, but father? Seems too farfetched."

"Well, he's half right." Donnie said, holding a hand out at his brother. "What Leatherhead is saying is that these are our genetic duplicates. The Kraang cloned us."

Leo lifted an eyebrow. "Unless I missed that lesson in biology, girls can't be genetic duplicates of guys."

"Well, this is the Kraang we are talking about, buddy boy." R1 sassed back.

"Then they are genetically similar, which siblings are to each other."

Leo nodded, accepting that answer.

"I would need to run some tests to confr—"

C3 was on her feet in a moment and standing between the tallest turtle and the children. If looks could kill, Donnie would have been obliterated.

"So, you brought us from one scientific den to another! I thought you cared about us, Leatherhead!"

"Th-that's not what I meant!" Donnie tried to defend himself.

But C3 was having none of that. She scooped D2 and L2 into her arms and started to herd the children, when Leatherhead stopped her. "Peace, child. Hear him out."

C3 glared at the large gator, but couldn't stay mad at his peaceful face for long. Still keeping a grip on the two babies in her arms, she turned to face Donnie.

Once Donnie was sure he (and his face) were safe, he continued. "What I meant was that I'd need to test your spit to confirm if we are twins, siblings or something different."

C3 looked skeptical. "You can get all that from some spit?"

Donnie nodded, and before he could go into a discussion about DNA, Leo stepped forward.

"How about, as a sign of good faith, I have Donnie perform the test on me. I'm his brother, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do something to me that he wouldn't do on himself. Then he can perform it on Mikey, Raph and himself, and then, if you feel more comfortable, he can do it on you."

C3 considered it. "It'll be the same test, right? Down to the last detail?"

"Cross my shell." Donnie promised.

C3 felt a tug on her arm and looked down. It was L1 staring up at her. "It's an honorable request." The small turtle said, bright blue eyes full of trust.

After a moment of staring at those blue eyes, C3 sighed in defeat. "Alright. But if any of the babies cry, not even Leatherhead will stop me from hurting you, Donatello."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed!

Please leave us a review! We'd love to know what you think!


	5. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay! Thanks for your continued interest!

We'll be working on a posting schedule and get back to you guys by the next chapter!

Again, all we "own" are the non-canon turtles and plot. Everything else belongs to Nick and the great creators behind this series! Please don't sue us!

* * *

Chapter 4:

Leo sat calmly on Donnie's exam table, watching as his taller brother collected the items he needed for the collection of DNA. C3 stood not that far away, watching Donnie through thinned eyes. Below Leo's feet, little L2 was reaching up for the leader in blue's foot.

At one point, he succeeded and managed to stick his finger between two of Leo's toes.

The blue masked turtle's foot jerked a bit and he looked down, ready to pull his foot away, but stopped and began to swing the foot a bit, allowing L2 to play with his toes.

Donnie, stepping around the small child on the floor, held a large tipped swab in front of Leo's face. The older brother opened his mouth and the fluffy end of the swab scratched the inside of his cheeks. After a moment, Donnie slipped the swab into a test tube and turned to C3. "And that's it."

C3, still very skeptical, nodded.

Donnie repeated the experiment with 100% accuracy on the rest of his brothers and then on himself before turning to C3. "Alright. I've repeated it to the letter on all of us…can I proceed to you and the smaller ones?"

C3, looking around for a moment, considering it. He had repeated it to the letter and it didn't look painful. Biting her lip, she nodded, hesitantly. "Fine."

Donatello smiled a bit and collected more swabs while C3 called in L1, R1, D1 and M1.

C3 was the first to subject herself to the test, and then R1 and D1 without much fuss. L1, who was still hungry, made her displeasure known quite loudly. Donnie turned to Leo for help.

"Mikey's cooking up something for lunch, L1. As soon as we are done here, you can feast to your heart's content."

L1 stared at Leo with wide blue eyes. "I don't know what that means, but it sounds yummy."

Leo blinked and smiled. "Well, you better open your mouth, then."

Continuing without a hitch to M1, who didn't fuss, Donnie put the swabs in separate test tubes and turned to C3. "Now I just need to see the youngest ones and we are done here."

C3 hesitated again, but nodded. She stepped out and came back with D2 and L2 curled in her arms and R2 and M2 hanging off of her shoulders.

Donnie, impressed, brought the swabs over to her to begin. "Alright, who should I start with?"

"Probably L2." C3 stated, gesturing to the baby in her right arm.

Preparing himself, Donnie held the swab a distance from L2 face. "C'mon L2," his voice sweet. "Open up."

L2 stared at Donnie's face, giving the equivalent of Leo's puzzled expression and didn't open his mouth. Donnie, thinking he might be in a tad bit over his head, he turned to his eldest brother and handed him the swab.

The leader in blue took it and the two of them traded spots. Once Leo was in L2's line of sight, his mouth dropped open. Leo made a similar face, mimicking a mom who was feeding a baby food.

Donnie, in utter shock and purple ponytail standing on end, muttered "What!"

The funny face was enough for M2 to open her mouth and R2 chuckled. Leo nabbed a swab from M2 and then turned to R2, who didn't open his mouth readily.

That's when Mikey barged into the lab. "DUDES! DUDES!"

"What, Mikey?" Donnie demanded.

Mikey, wide eyed and flailed his arms around. "We're all out of cheese!"

Donnie slapped Mikey. "Did you check the back of the fridge?"

R2, who wouldn't previously open his mouth, started to laugh. Leo took that opportunity to slip the swab in and pull it out before the child could bite it.

That only left D2. The small turtle was looking all over the room, a gaze that Leo was familiar with. Donnie had that look when he was looking for something interesting.

Donnie must have recognized it, because he went over to his book shelf and pulled out a turtle anatomy poster and placed it in front of the baby, whose mouth proceeded to drop open. So intense was her gaze that she didn't notice or cry when Leo swabbed the inside of her mouth.

"Done." Leo said, putting the swabs in tubes, as he had seen his brother do.

"Excellent!"

"OW! M1! YOU ARE SO GONNA GET IT!"

Unsure of exactly what had happened, the older turtles watched as M1 bolted out of the room, R1 hot on his heels.

* * *

Outside of the lab, Raph was sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels, when two of the 7 year olds burst into the room. At first the older turtle ignored them, thinking that they were just burning energy. That is, until they bumped into the television…

M1, still used to Kraang gravity, forgot to stop and comically slid into the television with R1 on his tail. The television swayed on its stand and almost fell over…if it hadn't been for Raph's ninja training.

"Okay, you two. What's going on here?" The red masked turtle asked, eyes white.

M1, extremely freaked out, took three big steps back.

R1, unfazed by the white eyes, pointed at the other clone. "He hit me with those chain things."

"Chain things?" Raph asked, blinking his eyes to normal and looking at M1 questioningly.

M1, still a bit freaked out, raised his hands to reveal two nunchakus in his hands.

"How did you get Mik—"

As if on cue, Mikey's voice wailed through the lair. "DUDES! Where did I put my chucks?!"

"I think I found them, Mikey."

Mikey dashed into the room, eyes wide, looking all over the place before coming over to Raph. "Where? Where!"

Raph stood the TV upright and pointed to M1.

"Dude….How did you get my nunchucks!" Mikey asked M1.

"He's a professional pick-pocket." R1 deadpanned.

"AM NOT!"

"Ok. New rule, guys, we need to keep our weapons under lock and key." Leo said, stepping into the room with L2 hanging off of him.

"I couldn't agree more," Donnie replied. "Ow!"

Somehow R2 had managed to come up behind Donnie and slap the back of his calf. When he got a response from Donnie, he continued to slap the green appendage. Starting to hop from one foot to another to avoid the slaps, the older turtle tried his best to move away.

Raph started to laugh. "Looks like I'm not the only one who enjoys the Donnie puppet."

"Very-ow-funny, Raph!"

C3, deciding that R2 had enough fun for the time being, scooped the child up and placed him on her shoulders. The child, content with this arrangement, crawled around the back of her neck and laid down like a mink scarf.

Raph and Donnie blinked. "So that's how you calm him down?"

"Yep. It's the closest he can get to me so he can—" A light snore emitted from the child. "Fall asleep."

"Interesting…"

D1 poked his head out of the lab. "Has anyone seen-"

"_DONATELLO!_"

"…Never mind…"

* * *

Hope you enjoyed!

Next chapter will be up soon!

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~R &amp; R


	6. Chapter 5

Hello all! Here's another chapter for you!

Please let us know what you think. We'd love your feedback!

~R&amp;R

* * *

Chapter 5

"_DONATELLO!_"

The called turtle cringed at the use of his full name.

C3, L2 and M2 all jumped at the sound of the new voice. R2, around C3's shoulders, flinched at the sudden movement, but didn't awaken. R1 and L1 instinctively shrunk into their shells. D1 fled back into the lab and M1 hid behind the closest person to him, which happened to be Mikey.

A tall rat strolled out from the dojo area, a small turtle held upright in his arms. D2, smiling broadly, laughed.

"Does this belong to you?"

Mikey sighed in relief. "Oh Master Splinter, you found her! ...Wait… How did you know she was Donnie's?"

The rat raised an eyebrow at Michelangelo. "She looks just like he did as a child."

"Oh…"

The ninja master walked over to Donnie and held out the girl towards him. "Better keep a close eye on her. She'll be trouble if you don't."

D2 laughed and started biting on Donnie's mask tails.

The ninja seemed so nonchalant about seeing more turtle mutants in his home…it bothered Leo. "Sensei?"

The master ignored his student for a moment and turned to C3. "I think, boys, you have some explaining to do."

It was then that the boys realized that their master was being calm for the sake of the children in the room…not because he wasn't surprised or upset.

"Well, you see, there was a portal that opened up in Donnie's lab, and Leatherhead was trying to warn us about—" Mikey began.

"—The Kraang's plans to take over Earth." Raph picked up. "So Mikey went through and we followed after him."

"While in there, Leatherhead lead us to a lab, where we found these turtles being experimented on," Donnie continued, holding D2 a bit tighter. "We couldn't just leave them behind."

"So, we brought them with us." Leo finished. "They have no place to go…and from what Leatherhead said-"

"I thought we needed a family get together." A booming voice from behind Splinter interjected.

C3, almost jumping out of her shell at the sound of the booming gator's voice, turned her attention to the monstrous creature. After a moment, noting that there were no crazy eyes and that Leatherhead appeared calm…and old as he leaned on his staff, C3 gestured to the younger turtles. "Ok, dears, let's move back to the lab."

Donnie, understanding that C3 was probably worried about a fight breaking out, places D2 into her care and turns his full attention to his master, waiting for the blow to strike.

A blow, which didn't really come.

Sensei, his eyes tired and his frame shriveled from grief, sighed and lowered his shoulders as the foreign turtles left the room. "Will they be safe in there, Donatello?"

"Yes, I have all my chemicals away."

"Good. Now, Leatherhead, please explain to me what you learned of the Kraang's plot."

Leatherhead bowed his massive head and began to explain his tale.

Splinter listened to Leatherhead's tale, stroking his beard, taking it all in. As farfetched and crazy as it sounded, considering that he, his sons and the gator before him were also rather farfetched, Splinter was inclined to believe the story.

"So, it was compassion that brought you to bring them to our home."

"Hai, Sensei." Leo and the other's caroused.

"Can we keep them, Master Splinter?" Mikey piped up, eyes wide and begging.

Splinter had expected this from his youngest son and considered the request.

"Please, master…." Leo continued. "They have nowhere to go."

Splinter looked towards his oldest son. Since the incident with Karai, his eldest had been more somber, serious and quiet than usual. They rarely spoke, and Splinter thought that it might be because he knew Leonardo blamed himself.

The begging in Leo's eyes was different than that of Mikey's. While his youngest son's plea was no less genuine, Leo's seemed different. As if he was begging Splinter to accept _him_ too.

Splinter sighed and lowered his eyes. "Alright, they may stay."

Mikey whooped in joy.

"Though, considering that the Kraang are plotting to come back, and in greater force, we may need to move them, eventually to some place safer."

"Hai, Sensei." Leo agreed, attempting to hide the relief in his voice.

Splinter turned to his eldest, who's head was bowed and was about to say something, when a small green head poked into the dojo.

"I'm still hungry," L1 said, her blue eye wide.

Mikey, Donnie, Leatherhead and even Raph started chuckling and Splinter couldn't help but smile. "Leonardo, would you find this little one something to eat."

"Hai, Sensei," the leader in blue said as he bowed and stood. Walking over to L1, he couldn't help but smile and held out a hand. "Come, L1. I'll get you something."

L1 took his hand and the two headed back to the kitchen.

* * *

Within Donatello's lab, the purple masked turtle worked feverishly with his DNA equipment. Pipetting the DNA carefully into the gel, his tongue peeked out of his mouth in concentration. Granted, this wasn't a perfect paternity test…but it was the best he had.

Smiling at the gel when he finished, he turned on the electromagnetic fluid tank that the gel sat in. In fifteen minutes, he'd be halfway done in finding out a result.

Turning away from the gel, he caught sight of a small turtle sitting not too far away, staring at the gel with curiosity. Donnie wasn't sure how long D1 had been sitting there, but he was grateful that he hadn't touched anything.

"So…this'll tell us if I'm right?" D1 piped up.

Donnie blinked at the younger turtle. "Yeah, I guess." He sat down beside the smaller turtle that looked like him.

"What….what if we aren't related to you and your brothers at all?" the smaller turtle asked, softly, an anxiety filling him.

Donnie's arm moved before he could tell it to do so, wrapping around his younger duplicate. "I don't think that'll change much. We aren't going to turn you all away just because we aren't related. I have two human friends who aren't related to us at all, but they are practically family."

D1 nodded, not completely convinced, but willing to accept what Donnie said. Leaning into Donnie's arm, the little turtle relaxed a bit. The masked turtle found himself rubbing the child's arm, hopefully in a soothing manner as they waited for the timer to go off.

The minutes ticked by quietly, though out of the lab, noise could be heard as Mikey played with M1 and M2. Leo had roped L1 and L2 into watching _Space Heroes_, while Raph was tolerating R2 beating up his foot. R1, on the other hand, was occupying D2.

_BRINNGGGG_

The timer wailed, startling Donnie and D1 out of their thoughts. With a soft pat on D1's shoulder, Donnie stood and turned off the electromagnetic tank. After a few moments, he pulled out the gel. "D1, do you mind handing me those paper towels?"

D1, picking up several of said sheets, brought them to the older turtle. "Are we done yet?"

"Not just yet. First I need to put a strip of bromide laced paper onto the gel. It'll act like film from a camera and transfer the DNA data to the sheet. Then, after another 10 minutes, I'll need to transfer the sheet to a positive, another stiffer gel, and then we can read the results."

D1 nodded. "Can I help?"

"With the Bromide, no. It's a cancer causing agent, and I don't want to expose you to those chemicals."

D1 pouted slightly, but nodded. "What is cancer?"

Donnie, donning a pair of specially modified gloves, carefully pulls the out the gel. "Cancer is when the cells in the body mutate and form a mass or clump of cells. It can cause serious problems if it can travel throughout the body."

D1 frowned. "But…I thought our cells were already mutated!" His eyes widened. "Are we going to die!?"

Donnie placed the gel on a paper towel. "No, D1. Our mutation was…good, in a sense. It made us sentient and able to act like humans. The kind of mutations that cause cancer are on a cellular level, and cause them to grow weird."

A look of relief washed over D1. "Oh…Ok."

Donnie smiled at the smaller turtle and then turned to the bromide paper. Carefully applying it and placing it in another small tub of fresh solution. "Alright, now we wait for another 15 minutes. Anything you want to do, D1?" Donnie asked, taking off the gloves and washing his hands in a nearby sink.

D1 was startled out of his thoughts. "Uh…I don't know."

Donnie set the timer and smiled at the smaller turtle. "Maybe we could grab a bit to eat?"

The small turtle thought for a moment. "Ok."


	7. Chapter 6

Hey guys! Welcome back to a new chapter.

Thanks to all that have faved and viewed our story. We really appreciate your support. We would very much like more reviews. So, if you can, at the end of the chapter, just send us a little note. What you liked. What you didn't like. :) It would really really be great. You can be anonymous if you like, and we won't hunt you down! We may even reply!

Thanks for everything, guys!

~R&amp;R

* * *

Chapter 6

C3 was incredibly bored. Her hosts were busy keeping the little ones busy (and fawning over them), so C3 thought it would best to give them time to get to know each other.

The lair was small, smaller than C3 imagined it would be. There was not much to do. She had already turned her brains to mush with the new discovery of the television and had no desire to watch the contraption for at least a week.

Instead, she decided to explore the remaining parts of the lair that she hadn't seen. The oldest, maskless turtle first wandered down the corridor where four strong, metal doors were. She timidly opened one of the doors and was met with the sight of a bedroom. A bedroom with about fifteen cans of "Kaput" bug spray on the headboard of the bed.

_Raph's room,_ she thought, for she had newly been acquainted with Raphael's apparent katsaridaphobia. So, she guessed that the rest of the doors, since there were four, were the others' bedrooms.

Now, C3 was not a snoopy turtle, so she left the rooms, not wanting to pry into the private lives of her hosts. They would further inform her about their lives when they were ready.

Finding nothing interesting in that part of the lair, C3 silently moved towards an area that she hadn't seen anyone go near…except Master Splinter. This area was sectioned off by tan rice paper doors and had odd but beautiful drawings on them.

She shyly slid open the doors to the room, _Dojo_, she reminded herself. The turtle was surprised to see a growing and green tree in the center of the room, beneath a sewer grate. That and the myriad of weapons displayed on the walls.

One set of weapons caught her eyes, a simple bow and arrow.

C3 was always interested in things that looked innocent, so she picked the weapon up. She had recently seen a picture of an archer and, unconfidently mimicked the stance.

_Now for something to shoot at…_ She looked around the room for any targets or sandbags, when she spotted them not too far away.

_Dart targets. Perfect!_ She was a tad nervous, but told herself, _it's easy. Nothing to worry about. Just pull, shoot, score…._

So, after a long exhale, she let the arrow fly. Closing her eyes as it flew across the room.

It hit something, her ears registered.

Cautiously, she opened her tightly closed eyes….to see something she had not expected.

The arrow had landed right in the bulls-eye!

C3 smiled in victory, but her excitement was cut short as a small clap reached her ears.

Turning sharply, like a kid caught raiding the cookie jar, she muttered. "Dangit…" She bowed and lowered the bow. "M-Master Splinter, I'm so sorry. I didn't ruin anything, I'll put these back." She blubbered as she reluctantly ran and placed the weapons in their place of honor. But just as she was reaching up to place them there, a hand touched her shoulder.

"Show me that again, C3." The ninja master gently commanded.

Puzzled, the maskless turtle picked up the weapons and shot the target again, hitting the bulls-eye once more.

Splinter's eyebrows rose and he silently took the weapons from her, placing them on the wall and returning to his room, leaving a shocked, embarrassed and confused turtle in his wake.

"TEST RESULTS ARE IN!"

* * *

Donnie and D1 stood before the group of turtles. Master Splinter hung back by the Dojo, but was listening intently as his most intelligent son's test results.

"D1 and I have complied the results from the swabs of saliva we collected." Donnie began, smiling out over the blank stares of Mikey, M1 and M2. Raph frowned, ready to pound his brother if he didn't speed this up and keep the scienciness to a minimum. And from the look on R1 and R2's faces, they would join the red masked turtle. Leo sat calmly, listening with L2 in his lap and L1 beside him. C3 held D2 in her lap, listening intently.

Donnie lifted a piece of paper with a strange set of lines on it. "And from the results, we could only conclude with certainty that C3 is our biological sister."

C3 blinked and the smaller turtles bowed their heads.

"D-does that mean…y-you are gonna send us away?" L1 asked hesitantly.

"No! Definitely not." Donnie continued. "I wasn't done. The rest of your DNA has been altered in comparison to Mikey's, Raph's, Leo's, and mine, making you more genetically like children to a parent than as siblings."

"Uh….So…what does that mean? In English?" Mikey asked.

Donnie sighed, figuring out just how to say this. "It means...that, genetically speaking, Leo is L1 and L2's father. Raph is R1 and R2's father. I'm D1 and D2's father, and Mikey, you are M1 and M2's father."

"Wait…Who's a father?" A voice butted in from behind Donnie, causing the purple masked turtle's mask tails to stand on end. "And why are there more than four turtles in this room?"

* * *

April O'Neil was wandering through the sewer, on her way to see the turtles after a rough day at school. After a decent, and all together not uneventful Christmas break, school was a welcomed change. Though it meant that she wasn't able to spend a lot of time with the turtles.

Holding her books tight to her chest, she was trapped in her own thoughts. There had been a lot that had happened, though it was Karai's mutation and Raph's knowledge that the Kraang would be returning that weighed heavily on her mind.

Walking closer to the lair, she could hear voices, Donnie's in particularly.

"…_And Mikey, you are M1 and M2's father_."

_What…?_ Was the thought that slipped into her mind as she jumped over the turnstiles and ran over to Donnie's side.

"Wait. Who's a father?" She blinked, seeing 9 more sets of eyes staring at her than she expected. "And why are there more than four turtles in this room?"

Donnie, whose eyes were still wide with shock, was unable to respond. Leo, seeing his brother's dilemma, stood, L2 still in his arms, and walked over to their human friend. "April, meet the clones. Clones, this is April O'Neil."

M1 in true Mikey style, stood and did two cartwheels over to April, landing in a kneeling position in front of her. "How do you do?"

April blinked at the smaller, maskless version of Mikey. "Uh…Hi. I'm doing good," She replied, feeling awkward. "Clones?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah. The Kraang got a hold of some of our DNA and made clones of us."

April blinked. "But…You've only known about the Kraang for just over a year…These guys look much older than that, especially that one." She points at C3.

C3, feeling challenged, stood up and gave D2 to R1, the look on her face said "Do you want me to come over there and give you a beat down?"

Leo, not wanting a fight to break out, turned to C3. "Calm down, Sis. She's a friendly."

"Sis?"

"Yeah. If you haven't noticed, I'm a girl." C3 responded snarkily, making Raph smirk proudly.

"O-okay then."

"It has to do with Time in Dimension X," Donnie, who finally regained control of his vocal cords, said. "It moves much faster there than here."

April raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"We went there." Mikey piped up. "We had to rescue Leatherhead!"

April blinked as she noticed the large alligator mutant sitting next to Mikey.

"And we had a….few tagalongs on our way home." Raph finished off the explanation.

"This is quite a lot more than a few, Raph." April replied as she smiled at L2, who was staring at her.

L2 looked back at Leo, then April, as if comparing appearances, noting that there was definitely a difference between the two teens.

"Yes, L2, she does look different." Leo said, explaining to the baby.

"L2? You named them numbers and letters?" April demanded.

Leo blinked, now the one stuck in shock.

"No! They came with those names!" Mikey covered.

"The Kraang gave them to us." M1, still kneeling in front of April, said.

"Well, you can't keep them." She narrowed her eyes. "Particularly if the Kraang gave you those. You all need _real_ names."

* * *

A/N: And now you guys can see why we want your opinions.

So right down below is a section for a review. Please leave one! Thanks! We'll have an update for you guys next week! ~R&amp;R


	8. Chapter 7: The Search for Names

A/N: Two updates in one week! WOOT!

We are feeling generous. :)

Please leave us a review! Hope you enjoy! ~R&amp;R

* * *

Chapter 7

They had to wait until it was dark before attempting to sit around and discuss names.

The babies had become restless as exhaustion had settled in, making them difficult. Donatello was forced to pull out an old contraption and set it up in the common area. It was large and had a huge light fixture attached at the top. Leo, Raph and Mikey understood and brought L2, R2, D2 and M2 over and placed the crying infants under the fixture. After a moment, Donnie turned the contraption on, coating the babies in a warm light.

Within seconds, they were asleep.

Donnie smiled. "Nothing like the good, old basking lamp to put four baby turtles to sleep."

"Dude!" Mikey turned to him. "How do you do it?"

Donnie smirked at his brother. "Science."

The youngest brother's eyes were so wide, Donnie was pretty sure that Mikey's brain exploded.

The seven year old turtles were keeping themselves entertained with Leatherhead, who had settled down to tell them a story, so Leo gestured for Donnie, Raph, Mikey, C3 and April to follow him into the dojo.

Master Splinter waited for them, kneeling under the tree, eyes closed in meditation. As the teens kneeled around him, he opened his eyes, smiling softly. "My sons and daughters, are the younger ones distracted?"

"Hai, Sensei," April said, returning the smile while Donnie pulled out his computer.

"I've pulled up a few name websites," Donnie said when his father turned to him. "Maybe that'll help us find a good number of names."

Raph, looking rather grumpy, crossed his arms. "What if we've already picked out names?"

His brothers looked at him with raised eye brows. "What names, exactly?" Leo asked.

"Brat one and Brat two."

April slapped the red masked turtle. "Those are not good names."

The green eyes narrowed even more and the frown deepened.

"Look, Raph, if you're gonna be a grouch, why don't you take a nap under the basking lamp." Donnie said. "We can work on this and you can have your input later."

The red masked turtle huffed, but didn't go anywhere. Understanding his brother's mood to a point, Leo shrugged and turned to April. "So, how are we going to do this?"

Thinking for a moment, April smiled. "Well, each of you have a girl and a boy, so let's start by looking for girls names. Then we'll regroup and discuss them."

The boys nodded and April looked at C3, "Then you and I can look together for a name for you."

C3 smiled slightly, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable. Even though C3 was the name that the Kraang gave her…it still was her name. But she was free now…so she reasoned, she should have a new name. "Alright, let's get started."

* * *

"How about this one?!" Mikey said, pointing to the fourth name on the page.

"Do you really want your girl named 'Angel' when your own name has 'Angelo' in it?" Donnie replied, trying to reason with his younger brother.

Mikey pouted slightly. "Probably not…"

Donnie patted his head. "It's hard to pick a name. Maybe you should close your eyes for a minute."

Mikey blinked at him. "Why?"

"I want to try something. Close your eyes and think about M2." When Mikey did as he was told, Donnie continued. "What's one word you would use to describe M2?"

Mikey thought hard, sticking out his tongue. It took him a moment, and Donnie hoped that this wouldn't cause his brother's brain to explode. "Sunshine!" Mikey's eyes flew open. "Could we name her Sunny?"

Donnie made a face. "Maybe, but I want to try something first." He typed Sunshine into the search bar, hoping more than one name would come up….he didn't get his wish. "Maybe something a bit broader." He thought for a moment. "What about light! That's sunshine related."

Mikey thought for a moment and shrugged. "Okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Well…naming things is kinda my thing…"

Donnie looked away from his computer and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Mikey, I just want to give you a wider selection of names. If you like Sunny after I show you these names, you can keep that."

Mikey, looking more serious than Donnie was sure he had ever seen him, nodded. "Okay."

Donnie smiled slightly and turned his attention back to his search. Typing in Light into the search bar, a list of names appeared. Mikey looked over his brother's shoulder, checking out the names before sighing "no…"

About half way through the list, Mikey stopped Donnie. "Wait. What does that mean?"

The word the green finger pointed out was "variant". "Variant means either a different spelling or different dialect of the same name."

"Oh…well, what's the original?"

"Let's find out." Donnie clicked on the name "Lucette" where Mikey had spotted the word variant. A name popped up. "Lucy," Donnie read. "Of Latin origin meaning Light."

"I think that's much prettier than Sunny." Mikey commented. "Lucy is her name!"

Donnie smiled at his brother. "One hundred percent sure?"

"Yes! It's cool and pretty, just like she is!"

"Then Lucy it is."

* * *

Several minutes later, the teens regrouped by Master Splinter. "What names have you chosen?" The aged rat asked, stroking his beard.

April looked at C3. "I still haven't settled on a name," The eldest clone stated, too which Splinter nodded.

"More time may be needed for you, my child, and we'll give you all the time you need. April, feel free to continue to assist her, if she likes."

"Hai, sensei," April replied. C3 smiled at the girl, grateful for her help.

Splinter turned to his sons. "Have you decided on names for your daughters?"

The word sounded funny to their ears, but they nodded none the less. Mikey, with a huge grin on his face, spoke up first. "I chose Lucy! Don helped me. He's the best."

Donnie rubbed his brother's head in appreciation of the complement. "I chose Gianna, and Mikey helped me with that one."

The youngest brother beamed. "It means 'God is Gracious'. Isn't that cool!"

Splinter's lip twitched into a smile. "Yes, Michelangelo, both of those names are very beautiful." He turned to his elder sons.

Leo was twiddling his fingers when he spoke up. "I chose Claire, it means 'illustrious'."

Raph scoffed softly, "Might as well name her 'Ms. Perfect'."

Leo gave Raph _the_ look. "Well, if you have a better name, Raph, why don't you spit it out?"

Raph returned the glare, keeping his lips locked.

"Raphael, you will at least voice the name you chose." Splinter spoke up.

Raphael turned his eyes to his master and sighed. "Fine. Elizabeth."

Splinter stroked his beard. "Hm… 'God is my Oath'."

"It's beautiful." C3 said, smiling.

* * *

The group disbanded for sometime to reflect on boy names, before the turtles found themselves seated in a circle once more facing Splinter.

"Have you all decided on names?"

The boys and girls nodded.

Splinter smiled.

As the teens all headed to bed, Master Splinter touched Leonardo's, "Leonardo, may I speak with you."

His master's tone was neutral, and that sent a wave of fear washing over the eldest son. His father and he had been dancing around each other for weeks…and he knew that eventually his father may bring up…that…

"Hai, Sensei," Leo replied, ever the obedient son. Kneeling before his master, he could hear his brothers, sister and April leave the dojo. For several moments, the two mutants were silent, a silence that bothered Leo, but he wasn't brave enough to break it.

"My son, you seem distressed of late." Splinter began, his voice soft and kind. A kindness that nearly broke Leo's heart. "What troubles you?"

Leo felt like a child again. Granted, he technically was one still, but he had been forced to grow up a bit. "I…" The word comes tumbling out, broken from his lips. "I'm so sorry, Master."

Splinter is silent, and the words continue to tumble from Leo.

"I messed up. I should have stopped her, I should have done something. Karai should be here right now, n-not me. I-I failed."

Something collided with Leo's face. It didn't send him sprawling or leave a mark.

No.

Splinter's paw reached over and grabbed Leo by the chin, forcing him to look into his master's brown eyes. They were pained…causing Leo's eyes to sting with tears.

This was it. Splinter was going to send him away…

"My son, please," Hamato Yoshi's voice begged, tears swarming in the rat's eyes. "Please don't blame yourself for this. You have not failed me. You did not mess up. You did your best! You went against what I asked and you brought Miwa home to me! You gave me that gift, Leonardo. To have her in my arms again, and know she was safe and that she wanted to be with me….that is a treasure that not even Shredder himself can take away. Karai made her choice. If we had forced her to stay, we would have been no different than the Shredder."

Leo opened his mouth to protest, tears flooding his eyes. But Splinter stopped him.

"You bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, Leonardo. And as leader, that is admirable. But this is not your burden to carry._ You_ tried to stop Karai. _You_ planned how to rescue her. _You_ attempted to save her when no one else could get to her. _You _did what you could, my son. It was the _Shredder_ that placed her in that cage above the mutagen, and it was the _Shredder_ that cut her down. There was nothing _you_ could do to stop it."

Tears were now flowing freely down both of their cheeks and Splinter gave in to embrace his son. "Please, Leonardo, I forgive you. All will be well, I don't know when, but Karai recognized me, and that gives me hope."

Leo couldn't hold back the sobs anymore and clung to his father. "Arigatou, tousan." Leo whispered into his father's kimono, feeling the absolution from his father wash over him, taking away the weight that had hung over him for so many weeks.

"I love you, my son."

* * *

At dinner the next day, Master Splinter had an announcement. Beckoning his eldest son to his side, the giant rat stroked his beard.

"If everyone is sated, I'd like to have small ceremony for your names."

The babies all blinked at their grandfather, absolutely confused. The seven year olds all quirked the same eyebrow up. The masked turtles ushered the younger ones into the dojo.

April, who had joined them for dinner, smiled. _You'd think they were siblings, not cousins._ At her master's nod, she got up and joined them on their way to the dojo.

* * *

A/N: Annnnnnnnnnnd slight cliffy? Meh...

Hope your feels are ok from that Splinter and Leo scene!

Please leave us a review! ~R&amp;R


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Yay! Time to name these kids!

For the next chapter, we will post a list of who is who so that if you get confused, you'll have a "cheat sheet" of sorts. (We understand there are a LOT of names.)

Also, this is the second draft of this chapter. We had originally wanted to do something a tad bit different...but we weren't quite sure how to do it. We may add it as a drabble later. Please tell us if you would like to see it!

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8:

Master Splinter disappeared into his room for a moment as Leo, Raph, Mikey and Donnie got the smaller turtles to sit down in the dojo. April tried to help, but only seemed to exacerbate the problem. The children were so excited that it took the masked turtles to hold the babies to their chests for them to calm enough to be quiet.

C3 sat on April's other side, looking very nervous.

The red head placed a hand on the turtle girl's shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asked, gently.

The turtle looked at her for a moment, before looking down. "What if we picked the wrong name?"

April lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Do you not like your name?"

"No! I like it! Just….what will everyone else say…?"

April gave a look that Raph was known for, "Are you really that concerned about what your brothers, nieces and nephews will think of your new name?"

"Yes. If you haven't noticed, I don't know my new brothers that well. I'm not nearly as concerned about my nieces and nephews about all this as them."

"Ah…" April said, realizing she had hit a mine in the field, but before she can respond, Master Splinter returned, a pile of cloth in his hands.

The master knelt in seiza before the teenagers and children. "Today is a momentous day, my children. With leaving the Kraang, we will leave your original names and start a new life. C3 has agreed to this, and we hope that you will want to join our family as much as we wish you to join us." He looks each of the smaller ones in the eyes. None of them reject it, and excitement seems to burst out of them in wide grins. "Good. Then I will call each of you up here one at a time and present you with the names that your fathers chose for you. But first," he turned his eyes on C3. "Come, my daughter. I shall begin with you."

C3, feeling her cheeks warm, did as she was told and knelt before Master Splinter.

Splinter rested a hand on her shoulder before beginning. "Daughter, you came to us as C3, a brave and strong turtle from Dimension X. The name that you chose for yourself, is just like you. Brave as a bear. Bear it well, Bernadette."

Bernadette bowed.

Master Splinter reached beside him and picked up a folded green mask. Blinking slightly, he hesitated and turned to Leo. "Leonardo, explain."

Leo's face burned, but he responded immediately. "I'm sorry, Sensei. The dye didn't take very well…and it got charred as I was burning the edges…And we didn't have any more of the same fabric and dye to try again."

Splinter nodded and turned to Bernadette. "Please, tell me what you think. If you wish, I will give you a different one."

Bernadette, a bit confused, looked up to see just what Sensei and Leo were talking about. In the rat's hands was a green mask, similar to Leo's….but the tails were interesting. First the green faded to white and then to black. Blinking a bit, she studied it before smiling. "It's perfect." _Green like C1, white was C2's favorite color…and black is mine…Now, I can bring honor to their names._ "I love it."

Splinter smiled and tied the mask around Bernadette's face.

She smiled up at him, her green eyes now framed by the lighter green of the mask. She nodded and moved to get up. But Sensei stopped her. "I have one more thing for you, Bernadette."

The turtle girl blinked as Splinter reached behind him and pulled out a bow and quiver of arrows. He smiled at her confused expression. "Bernadette, to you I bequeath this Yumi and Ya. With this bow and arrows, you shall begin training in the honorable way of the ninja, or kunoichi in your case."

Bernadette blinked, staring in awe at the Yumi and Ya between her father's hands. Her hands shook as she took the wooden weapons. "Thank you, Father." She said, smiling widely.

Leo blinked, looking slightly confused. "Sensei, why didn't she get to choose her weapons?"

Splinter looked up, amused, at his eldest son. "But she did, Leonardo. You of all people should know that. For it was you that also chose your weapon in private."

The green masked turtle turned to her blue masked brother. "You chose in private too? How?"

Leo looked rather sheepish, shrugging his shoulders, more interested in a spot on the floor than his sister. "I snuck into the dojo and started playing with the katanas…."

Raph started to chuckle. "Not so perfect then, huh, Leo—Ow!"

R2, having enough of his father talking, reached up and pressed against the underside of Raph's jaw, as if trying to shut him up.

"Okay! Okay!" the red masked turtle said. "I get it." And kept his mouth shut.

The little turtle smirked.

"Are you sm—"

"Enough, my son. The ceremony is not yet finished." Sensei said, his voice sharp, before softening as he turned to Bernadette. "You may go back to your place, daughter."

Nodding, Bernadette did as she was told. As she walked back, Splinter's eyes fell on Leo. "Leonardo."

Leo nodded and gestured towards L1 for her to come forward. The girl pointed to herself and nodded. Placing L2 on the floor beside her, she started to move, but Leo stopped her.

"Bring him too," The leader whispered.

L1 made an O with her mouth and blushed bright red-well…as red as a turtle could get, and picked up her brother before coming over. Kneeling, she kept her head down while her brother looked up at Splinter with wide sapphire eyes.

Splinter chuckled slightly and accepted two different shades of blue masks from Leo. Lifting the turquoise one, he looked seriously at L1. "My grandchild, today you shall don this mask of turquoise, in imitation of your father. With it I will bestow upon you the name Claire, which your father has selected for you. You shall not yet be given a weapon, but if you wish, we shall train you in the art of the kunoichi."

The young turtle nodded eagerly, before stopping herself and becoming more serious. Bowing her head, she replies. "Thank you, Master. I am honored that you wish me to be your student."

Splinter nodded and tied the mask around Claire's face. "Welcome to our clan, Hamato Claire." The ninja master turned then to the smaller turtle in Claire's arms. "As for you, my grandson. You do not yet understand this ceremony, but you will as you grow in age." He picked up a royal blue strip of fabric. "To distinguish you from your cousins and in view of the future, I present you with this anklet and bestow the name Vincent."

Vincent's bright blue eyes stared curiously at his grandfather, but he did not fuss as the rat tied the fabric to his leg.

After dismissing Claire and Vincent, he gestured to Leo, who handed him two strips of fabric of two different shades of red.

"Raphael, bring forward R1 and R2."

With a bit of fussing coming from R2, Raph managed to bring both of them forward. Splinter smiled knowingly at his son, for he had slaved many days with a fussy Raph, before turning to R1. Lifting a crimson red strip of fabric, the master presented it to R1. "My grandchild, I present you with this mask of crimson, and with it, I bestow the name Elizabeth, the name your father chose for you. Like with Claire, you will not be given a weapon, but rather the choice. If you wish, we will train you in the art of the Kunoichi."

Elizabeth stared at the master as he presented her with her mask. Blinking her green eyes, she realized she was supposed to respond. "Thank you, Master. I'd love to become a kunoichi."

Splinter smiled and tied the mask around her face before turning to R2. Repeating the same speech he had given Vincent, he bestowed the little boy with a dark red anklet. "You will be known as Gabriel."

Gabriel pouted slightly as the fabric was tied around him, but Raph held his leg so he wouldn't kick his master. Splinter tied it a bit tighter than he had with Vincent, just to be sure he wouldn't pull it off.

The master nodded to his son and grandchildren, who replied the nod and sat back in their spots.

Next, Splinter summoned Donatello, D1 and D2, taking two strips of different shades of purple from Leo. Turning to D1, he repeated the same ritual that he had for Claire and Elizabeth, holding between them a strip of indigo fabric. "I bestow on you the name Sebastian, the name your father chose for you. And, if you wish, we will train you in the art of ninjitsu."

Sebastian stared at the indigo mask, torn. He wasn't sure he wanted to learn how to fight. He would prefer to be in a lab studying things and making stuff…but his father was both of those things. A scientist and a ninja…maybe he could be both as well. Nodding, he accepted the mask.

Splinter then picked up a much longer strip of periwinkle fabric, turned to D2, and repeated the same ceremony he had for Vincent and Gabriel. "You shall be known as Gianna." He said as he tied the large fabric around her waist in a large bow. "A bow to disclose that she is, in fact,_a she_."

Elizabeth, looking somewhat irritated, whispered to Raph. "Why didn't _we _get bows?"

Raph shushed her. "Do you _want_ a bow?"

Elizabeth nodded but whispered "No."

Raph rolled his eyes.

Lastly, Splinter called forward Mikey, M1 and M2. Leo handed his master a white and a silver pieces of fabric. Turning towards M1, Splinter repeated for the last time the same ritual he had for Claire, Elizabeth and Sebastian. "I bestow on you the name Cyprian." He said, holding up the white mask.

Cyprian did not hesitate when asked if he wanted to become a ninja. He nodded so enthusiastically that he almost his the back of his head on his carapace. Splinter chuckled and tied the mask expertly around the young turtles head. He was so similar to Mikey, it was laughable.

And finally, Splinter grabbed the large strip of silver fabric and repeated for the last time the ritual he had for Vincent, Gabriel and Gianna. "You shall be called Lucy," He said, tying on the silver bow.

The baby, loving her new "clothes", started rubbing the fabric, clearly enjoying the sound it made and the view of the beautiful color.

"Now, my children and grandchildren," Splinter concluded. "Tonight we shall celebrate!"

* * *

A/N: One chapter done in one take, check.

Ok... we will post another in a few days!

Feel free to leave a review! Like or hate the names? Let us know!

~R&amp;R


	10. Chapter 9

Hello everyone!

Thanks for coming back again!

Oh. And as promised, here's the guide to who is who.

L1-Claire  
L2- Vincent  
R1-Elizabeth  
R2-Gabriel  
D1-Sebastian  
D2-Gianna  
M1-Cyprian  
M2-Lucy  
C3-Bernadette

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9: Sleep

Days passed at almost a break neck pace. Not long after the naming ceremony, Leo, Donnie, Raph and Mikey seemed to be scrambling for time with their sister and children. Nightly patrols became teams of two as Leo thought security needed to be tighter around the lair.

One night, Leo was watching over the babies as they slept under the basking lamp, his eyes focused, but his mind wandering. There were so many issues to address…

_What if the Kraang make their move tonight? Donnie did say it could be a day before they come… What are they waiting for? What would we do?_

Donnie was in the lab tonight, working on his turtle mech. A viable option should they be attacked. But Leo didn't think it was enough. They needed something more.

The lair was pretty quiet tonight, seeing as Leo had sent Mikey and Raph to pick up Casey for patrol. April and Bernadette were training in the dojo with Master Splinter, and usually Leo would join them, but not tonight.

Needing the quiet for meditation, Leo had decided to take baby-sitting duty. And seeing as the youngest four turtles were settled for bed, it would probably stay quiet until one of them awoke because of a nightmare or hunger. Sitting in seiza not far from the infants, he closed his eyes and focused on the silence, trying to find a way to solve the questions that buzzed in his head.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that when the silence was broken. It started out as a mew before it started to grow into a whimper. His eyes opened, one hand going for the kaiken in his dojo wraps, looking for a threat…

And found nothing.

Confused, he slipped the small dagger into the wraps once more and looked for the source of the sound...

It wasn't that far away.

Vincent was lying on his plastron, trying to get into his shell, as if hiding from some unseen threat. The whimper grew in intensity as the small turtle did his best to get into his shell. Leo leaned closer to the baby, realizing he must be having a nightmare.

Slightly panicked and not sure what to do, Leo reached out and picked the baby up, who immediately squirmed. Thinking fast and hoping not to wake the child, he placed Vincent in his arms and started rocking him. _Babies like to be rocked…right?_

However, the whimpers did not stop. Becoming even more concerned, Leo tried to think of what Splinter would do in this situation…

And then it hit him.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and started to sing.

"_Nenneko shasshari mase,__  
__Neta ko no kawaisa.__  
__Okite naku ko no."_

His voice wasn't as melodious as he remembered his Master's from his memories as a child. But it would have to suffice.

Vincent's cries, upon hearing his father's voice, slowly began to wane. Taking this as a good sign, Leo continued to sing.

"_Nenkororo, tsura nikusa.__  
__Nenkororon, nenkororon._

_Nenneko shasshari mase,__  
__Kyō wa nijūgo-nichi sa.__  
__Asu wa kono ko no,__  
__Nenkororo, Miya-mairi.__  
__Nenkororon, nenkororon._

_Miya e maitta toki,__  
__Nan to yūte ogamu sa.__  
__Issho kono ko no,__  
__Nenkororo, mame na yō ni.__  
__Nenkororon, nenkororon."_

By the end of the last verse, Vincent's cries had stopped and he was resting peacefully in his father's arms. The leader in blue peaked to take a look and was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of shock. It had worked! Smiling at his accomplishment and at the cuteness of the child in his arms, he hummed the lullaby once more, keeping rocking Vincent gently.

And soon, he found himself drifting off.

* * *

It was around midnight when Mikey and Raph returned from patrol. Mikey, ever the loud mouth, opened his mouth to shout their return when Raph grabbed him and closed a hand over his mouth. "Do you want to wake up the babies?" Raph threatened in his ear. "Cus if you do, I'm making you put them to sleep."

The orange masked turtle rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Good." The red masked turtle replied and let his brother go.

Sulking slightly, Mikey made his way into the lair and towards his room when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Curious, he turned to look…and was not expecting the sight before him.

Leo was kneeling in front of the basking lamp, his head drooping slightly, and in his arms lay Vincent, snuggled up against his father's plastron.

Mikey had to stop himself from awing over the scene before him. His ninja skills allowed him to get to his room before he couldn't hold it back. Looking around for something, he raids his room before stumbling out of it, a camera in his hand.

*click*

* * *

"That is enough for tonight, daughters." Sensei told Bernadette and April as they finished their kata.

"Hai, Sensei." The girls chorused and bowed. Splinter returned the bow before stepping out of the dojo.

April rubbed her sore arm, looking over at Bernadette, wondering if she was having problems too.

Much to the girl in yellow's chagrin, the turtle girl was stretching very comfortably. "You're not hurting at all?" She almost demanded.

Bernadette smiled, "Nope. I could have probably gone another hour."

April lifted an eyebrow, not sure if she was bluffing or not. "How so? You've only been training for three days!"

The green masked turtle lifted an eyebrow. "Have you seen my brothers? I'm made straight from their 15 year old DNA. Plus, the Kraang modified me." She said, disgust at the Kraang seeping into her voice.

April nodded, jealously.

"But I wish it didn't come this easily to me…" Bernadette continued softly.

April lifted an eyebrow. "Why? Being good at something isn't a bad thing."

"No… But surviving something that your siblings couldn't might be. I've been very lucky…and that's bad in my book." And with that, the turtle girl headed out of the room.

* * *

On his way out of the dojo, Splinter ran right into Michelangelo, startling the younger turtle who jumped up and covered his mouth with two hands. When he realized who was behind him, he relaxed and smiled at Sensei.

"Sh! It's too cute!" Mikey whispered, pointing towards the center of the main room.

Lifting an eyebrow, the ninja master looked, and a smile touched his lips at the sight of Leo with Vincent. "You should be heading to bed too, my son." Splinter said, turning his attention back to Mikey.

"Aww! But I'm not—" The boy yawned. "Sleepy."

The ninja master smiled. "Then perhaps you should meditate for a while."

Sighing and slumping, the student nodded to his master and headed into the dojo.

Once Mikey was out of sight, Splinter headed down to where Leo was, careful to not wake the little ones sleeping under the basking lamp or the one in the blue masked turtle's arms. Touching his son's shoulder gently, he awoke Leo.

"You should go and rest, Leonardo." The master whispered.

The leader in blue yawned and blinked up at Splinter. "W-What?"

"You need your rest. You've been running yourself ragged, my son."

"Oh…" The teenager started to get up when he noticed something in his arms. Blinking down, he smiled at the sleeping Vincent. The baby was gripping onto his father's plastron and looking content.

"Place him under the basking lamp. He'll sleep peacefully for the rest of the night."

"Hai, Sensei." Leo said and did as he was told before Sensei shooed him to his room. "Goodnight, Sensei."

* * *

The next day passed quite rapidly and in the same way as the previous one. Sleep, train, patrol, and sleep.

Except for Donnie, who had once again cooped himself up in his lab, so focused that he barely noticed the time or Gianna sitting nearby. It was only once he rubbed his eyes for a moment that both were brought to his attention.

"Gianna, what are you doing still up? It's way passed your bedtime."

The genius' daughter gave him a look that could only be described as saying "Are you kidding?"

"Don't sass me." Donnie said, crossing his arms. "It's your bed time, little miss."

Gianna mimicked her father, the look still plastered on her face.

They ended up staring at each other for a good 10 seconds before Donnie caved and scooped her up, causing her to let out a startled laugh. "I got you!" The older turtle said, pulling her into his arms and tickling her.

Gianna's laughter echoed through the lab for several minutes before Donnie stopped tickling her and held her close. "Alright, you can stay up with me for a little while longer."

As if those were the magic words, Gianna leaned closer, grabbing her father's mask tails, and yawned.

"Are you kidding me?"

The baby gave him a tired look, as if to say "Do you think I'm kidding you?"

Donnie fought to roll his eyes. "Alright. Let's get you to bed."

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the lair, Raph was struggling with a problem of his own.

"_Gabriel!_" The hot head shouted as he looked all over for the baby turtle. Elizabeth was not too far away, looking as well for her brother.

The little boy had gone missing just shy of bath time. Elizabeth, knowing her brother well, knew that Gabriel hated bath time and would do anything in his power to get out of it.

But not tonight!

Tonight, Raph was determined to get his son bathed.

Suddenly, Elizabeth started laughing, causing Raph to turn sharply and glare at his daughter. _"What?"_

"Just…Look behind you, dad." The laughing seven year old said.

Raph turned sharply and then again, searching for the cause of the girl's laughter.

Suddenly, a familiar laugh joined Elizabeth's. Gabriel. Raph could hear him. He was close.

"No dad. Just turn your head." The girl said.

The red masked turtle did as his daughter pointed out, and spotted the little rascal clinging to the ridge of his carapace. Gently, Raph reached behind him and grabbed Gabriel by the hands before pulling the child in front of him.

"How the shell did you get there?" Raph asked, slipping the child into a proper hold.

The baby shrugged.

"Well, it's bath time for you. No excuses."

The child groaned and made a face that screamed he didn't want to.

"Well tough." Raph continued, turning and heading to the tub that they had. Several minutes later, sounds of a struggle and laughing echoed through that section of the lair.

* * *

Casey, coming to see why Raph wasn't answering his texts, had entered the lair to that sound. Lifting an eyebrow because the laugh sounded unfamiliar, he flipped down his mask, just in case. Keeping his hands ready to grab a hockey stick, he snuck the best he could towards the sound. The door to the bathroom was open and he peaked inside to see…two turtles with red masks…and a smaller turtle.

"This is really strange, yo." He said loud enough to be heard.

Suddenly, the smallest turtle jumped out of the tub and shot like a bullet for Casey.

Gabriel, startled by the sudden appearance of someone else that he had never seen before, had somehow made it out of Raph's hands and cleared a good three feet before latching onto the intruder's face.

Elizabeth couldn't help but fall over laughing. This night just kept getting better.

Raph reached out and grabbed Gabriel by the shell. "Gabe, no. Let go."

Gabriel refused, shaking his head and growling at the black and white figure.

"Dude! What the!" Casey said, reaching up to try and release his face.

"Case! Stop!" Raph said, still attempting to pull off the baby when idea struck. Shifting one of his hands, he started scratching Gabriel's carapace.

Almost immediately, the baby let go of Casey's mask and collapsed. It was only Raph's ninja training that allowed him to catch the turtle before he hit the ground. "Works every time." He said with a wink.

"Cool." Casey said, lifting his mask. "But what's going on, bro? I've been texting you for the last hour and you haven't said a peep."

Slipping the grumpy baby onto his shoulder, Raph gestured to Elizabeth. "We found them in Dimension X. This is my daughter Elizabeth, and my son Gabriel."

Casey blinked. "Come again?"

"It's crazy Kraang stuff. Just go with it."

"Oh….Kay…." Casey replied before bursting out laughing. "Irresponsible much?"

Raph reached over and punched his buddy. "Don't even start, dude." The hot head said with a glare, leaning closer to Casey and covering Gabriel's ears with a large hand. "They were genetic experiments of the Kraang." He whispered, seriously.

Casey's laugh stopped on a dime when he heard the whisper. Raph wouldn't joke about experiments and knowing the things that happened in comic books…well, Casey didn't have to think much to guess what may have happened to the small baby in Raph's arms or the little girl. "Oh…" He whispered back before his voice returned to normal. "Do you need any help with b-a-t-h-t-i-m-e?"

A sly smile widened across Raph's face.

* * *

A/N: Sorry! We should have left a CUTENESS alert at the beginning!

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave us a review!

~R&amp;R


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: Hello all! Welcome back! Thank you so much for your reviews! (Especially to our lovely guest. We are checking our tenses to make sure that everything is in proper order. Thank you very much for helping us!)

And like before, a quick reminder of who is who.

L1: Claire, L2: Vincent  
R1: Elizabeth, R2: Gabriel  
D1: Sebastian, D2: Gianna  
M1: Cyprian, M2: Lucy

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 10:

It was about ten when all the babies and seven-year-olds were all asleep in their little niches around the lair. Who would have thought that it would take a few hours to put eight children to sleep?

Obviously, the turtles and Casey hadn't.

Leo summoned his brothers, sister, Casey, and April into the dojo, the only room where someone didn't rest, save for Splinter, who sat there waiting for his students.

"I really think we need to consider a safe place to move the children to." Leo started off, raising a hand to stay off any objections until he had finished. "The Kraang aren't going to wait forever, we already know they are coming, and we've been really lucky to have the amount of time that we have. And as much as I would love to keep them here…if the Kraang attack, I'm not sure we could defend the lair _and _the city split up the way we have been for the past few days."

When Leo lowered his hand, it was Bernadette and Donnie that were the first to object.

"We just got here and now you're sending us away?!"

"We can defend both in the turtle mech! I'm almost done with it."

Leo took this into consideration, before forming a response. "Think about it. If we were attacked, the babies can't defend themselves very well, and the older ones may be able to try." Leo shrugged slightly. "I'd give them that. But they could be a serious distraction if something were to happen. And what if the Kraang go for the lair?"

"They don't know where we are." Raph dead panned.

"But who's to say that something won't happen and they suddenly know, Raph."

"That happens in comic books all the time!" Mikey chirped in. "It sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but we can't send them off on their own, dude!"

Leo nodded. "I wasn't considering sending them off on their own, but first we need to find a place for them."

Bernadette huffed for a moment before, begrudgingly agreeing. "Fine. But it will only be temporary, right?"

"On my honor, I swear it." Leo said, seriousness echoed through his voice.

"I may have a place where they can go…" April piped up. "My family's old farmhouse. It's in Northampton, so it wouldn't be too far away, but out of the city enough to be safe."

Leo looked from her to Splinter and then back again. "Would you be willing to let us use it? Even for a short time?"

"Sure. I'd need to talk to dad about it, but I don't think that'll be too difficult."

Leo nodded, "Good." And then turned to Bernadette. "I was wondering, sister, if you wouldn't mind going with them. You've taken remarkable care of them since before we knew they existed and I can't think of anyone else I'd trust more to protect them."

Bernadette thought for a moment. Obviously, she wouldn't let them go anywhere without her, but the inflating of her ego just made it more enticing. "Fine. But only because you swore that it would be temporary."

Leo smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Bernadette." He looked around the room. "Any objections?"

"Just one…should we send someone else out there with them?" Raph piped up. "You know, in case the Kraang lock on their tail?"

Leo considered it, pretty sure that all of the brothers would want to go with their children…but they couldn't…

It was Splinter that provided the answer. Standing, the master turned to the tree behind them and plucked off five small twigs, being sure to keep them about the same length. Keeping his back turned to the group, he shortened one of them and held them in his hand to disguise the different sizes. "The one that picks the shortest stick can go as guard."

Leo nodded and selected one of the sticks, a long one.

His brothers and Casey all did the same and then compared lengths.

"Aw yeah!" Mikey cheered. "I got the short stick!"

"Oh great. Chuckles as a body guard."

"Hey!"

* * *

"_MIKEY!"_

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Michelangelo screamed back, getting ready to hide, should his older brother come after him for something he was pretty sure he didn't do.

"_Come help us! Your daughter is spinning on the turnstiles!"_

The orange masked turtle blinked. "Come again?"

"GET YOUR SORRY BUTT OVER HERE, MICHELANGELO!"

Not wanting to infuriate Raph even more, Mikey made his way quickly to the turnstiles…and sure enough, there was Lucy spinning wildly on the turnstiles, squealing in excitement. Trying to hold in a laugh, the older turtle made his way over to the tot and poked at the turnstiles, bringing it to a halt.

Lucy dropped to the floor, stars swirling in front of her eyes for a moment before looking up at her father's folded arms and raised eyebrow. To which she replied with a huge, and rather cute, grin.

Reaching down, Mikey picked up his daughter and headed off to find Raph.

Raph, in the meantime, was dealing with two rather hyper and crazy babies.

"What numbskull gave these babies sugar?"

The objects of his frustration, Gabriel and Gianna, the dynamic duo, had somehow gotten themselves into the cookies, and now the boy was lying on his carapace and the girl was standing up, running as fast as she could from Raph, using Gabriel as a shopping cart.

Raph was wondering how, with all of his ninja training, these two managed to stay out of his grasp!

"ARGH!" He growled in frustration as Gianna made another turn, sending the trained ninja flying into the television set.

Laughing, Gianna shoved Gabriel out from under her and started bear climbing out of the pit and crawling as fast as her little arms would carry her towards the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't!" Raph flipped out of the pit and ran as fast as he could, almost dragging his hands on the floor as he neared her….before falling on his face. "…I'm getting too old for this…._DONNIE!_"

"WHAT!?"

"GET OUT HERE!"

"WHY?"

"BECAUSE!" The raging turtle looked up, and saw that Gianna had somehow made it to the top of the fridge…where the cookie jar sat. "SHE'S RAIDING THE COOKIE JAR! AGAIN!"

The tallest terrapin peaked out of the lab, assessing just how truthful Raph's words were, and sighed when he saw that it was not an exaggeration. Moving quickly, with an unamused look on his face, he made his way to the fridge and glared at his daughter, who had successfully stuffed five cookies in her mouth.

The little turtle broke her streak of munching to look at her father with wide eyes before smiling and waving, cookie in hand.

Donnie, completely unamused, shook his head and pulled the cookies out of her hands and set them aside before grabbing her. "Bath time." He said, simply, but firmly.

Gianna huffed, cookies still stuffed in her cheeks, lowering her head.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what you get when you raid the cookie jar." The purple masked turtle said before turning to Raph the babysitter. "So, Raph, how was she?"

Raph gave the glare of death. "Two words: Never. Again."

* * *

"Leo!"

The turtle in question was reading through one of his comic books, looked up and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Raph?"

"You're son is missing."

Moving quickly, even for a ninja, Leo managed a flip before skidding to a halt in front of his brother. "What?"

Raph shrugged, Gabriel in his arms.

"How do you lose track of a child that can't walk yet!?" Leo practically shouted.

"Three words: Gianna in the Cookie Jar."

"That's not—"

"I DON'T CARE! It's three! And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit here with my son and watch television." And with that, the grump pushed past his brother and flipped to flop on the beanbag chairs, picked up the remote and started flipping through channels.

With a heavy sigh, Leo rolled his eyes and started looking for the smallest turtle in blue. Trying to think of places that he had gotten into as a child helped eliminate most of the back rooms and the kitchen. That left the dojo and the lab.

And Leo could guess which one.

After a quick check of the lab, just to be sure, he headed to the dojo, knowing he probably was going to get in trouble for having his son slip into the one room of the house where the child could get seriously hurt.

Just as the eldest turtle walked through the gateway to the dojo, Splinter was coming out of his trance. The rat looked down and chuckled slightly. In his lap was the smallest turtle in blue rested, fast asleep. "I seem to recall something similar happening years ago, right, Leonardo?"

The leader came and knelt in front of his master, bowed. "I'm sorry, Sensei. It won't happen again."

Splinter chuckled, resting one of his four fingered hands on Vincent's head as the child slept in his lap. "I do not mind, Leonardo. If he wishes to escape the constant noise of his uncles, cousins, sibling and yourself, he is more than welcome to sleep in my lap. At least, until he's too heavy to stay there comfortably."

Leo had to fight a chuckle before another voice rang through the lair.

"_BEA!"_

"_WHAT?"_

"_WHERE'S MY SUPER SUIT?"_

"_WHAT?"_

"_WHERE. IS. MY. SUPER. SUIT?"_

"_I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, RAPH! YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!"_

From the central part of the lair, Leo could hear Raph and Mikey laughing very hard. The leader looked at his sensei and both of them lowered their heads, sighing. Would it ever be quiet in the lair?

Bernadette made her way into the common area, and irritated look on her face as she looked at her brothers practically rolling on their shells with laughter. "I seriously don't get this joke."

"It's from the Incredibles! One of the best movies of all time!" Mikey piped up between giggles. "OH! I should bring it with us on our trip!"

No one had noticed Elizabeth and Claire as they entered the room from the kitchen. "What trip?" The one with a red mask asked.

The chuckling stopped as everyone in the room turned to face the two new comers.

"Aw sewer apples…" Raph muttered. "Liz, get your cousins. We need to talk."

Elizabeth looked at Raph funny and didn't move for a long while, before dashing into the other room to pull Cyprian and Sebastian by their mask tails.

"OW! WHAT GIVES, ELIZABETH?" the white masked turtle asked.

"Dad says he wants to talk to us. He has some explaining to do." Elizabeth said, her voice cold. Almost throwing her cousins at her father's feet, she turned her green eyes on Raph. "So explain."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the sorta cliffy. I hope our tenses were better this time. (If not, please let us know and we'll correct it. :) )

Please leave a review! (Oh, and we do NOT own the Incredibles. That honor belongs to Disney and Pixar. We just enjoy that line, a lot.)

~R&amp;R


	12. Chapter 11

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay. Our internet went boom... :(

But we're getting it up and running this week! So we may have another one for you for Christmas! (YAY!)

And we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa/Happy Holidays/Happy New Year from both of us!

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 11:

Raphael wasn't entirely sure what was more difficult – fighting the Shredder or telling his daughter that he was sending her to a safe haven for the time being.

With the way that those green eyes bored into him…he would have taken the fight with the Shredder any day.

Elizabeth, Claire, Sebastian and Cyprian listened in silence as Raph, Mikey and Bernadette explained that it was necessary to send them someplace safe before the Kraang return. As Raph was clear to point out, they had reliable information that the Kraang were coming and that they were lucky they has lasted this long without the Invasion beginning.

It was…difficult to accept.

Claire, being the most sensitive of the older children, lowered her head and squeezed her eyes and hands closed, fighting the urge to scream and cry. Trying to remember Sensei's lesson on acceptance was difficult when everything rebelled inside of her. She could see where her uncles and aunt were coming from…but she didn't like it. She wanted to stay here…But if it was unsafe…if those brain things found them…

Surrendering to a wave of sadness, Claire lowered her head even more to hide the tears in her eyes.

Cyprian, who knelt beside Claire, put an arm on her shoulder. Even though this news distressed him, he had enough sense to know this bothered her more. He didn't want to leave either, but was willing to follow his father and uncle's lead to the end of the Earth. If they said he needed to go…he'll go. His blue eyes met Mikey's and he nodded with severe seriousness.

Sebastian and Elizabeth knelt like statues, frozen in place, expressions blank.

Sebastian's mind raced as he tried to come up with a way that allowed them to stay with the four Ninjas and their master…but none of them stuck well. Not wanting to give up until all the possibilities had been negated was difficult, but soon he unfroze and lowered his head, sinking his face into his hands. He had nothing…and was sure that if Donnie hadn't have been able to figure something out…he probably wouldn't have either.

Elizabeth's stiffness was the most terrifying. She knelt with her back was straighter than Raph had ever seen it, her arms resting on her knees, no sign of emotion or movement coming from the turtle. Her mind was a complete blank, unable to accept, or deny, the reasoning her father had given her. She didn't…feel anything.

Until a pair of hands grabbed hers. Blinking up, Elizabeth's eyes met a strikingly similar pair of eyes.

Raph, knowing what his daughter was going through better than anyone, gripped her hands tightly, keeping her grounded. "It won't be for very long. We'll punch those silly brains so hard back into Dimension X their Kraangs will be spinning for the next millennium. And then we'll come and get you guys. You won't be alone for very long." He squeezed her hands a bit more. "I promise."

It took her a good couple of minutes before she was able to find her voice, thoughts returning to her head slowly, reminding her to blink and breath. "Alright." She said quietly. "Alright."

* * *

Later on that evening, April waltzed into the lab with a ring of keys around her finger. "Dad says that the farm house is ours!"

"Aw yeah!" Mikey cheered, echoed by Lucy who cooed in her father's arms.

April couldn't help by smile at Mikey's antics. For some reason, the orange masked turtle was able to see the light in everything and she wondered if that's why he appeared to walk on sunshine most of the time. By Lucy's response, whatever it was that made Mikey that way had also transferred to his children.

"Good." Leo said, making his presence known. In his arms slept Vincent and he held Claire's hand. "Then I suggest that you all leave now while the sun is set."

The girl in yellow nodded, understanding Leo's reasoning. While it was dark, no one would see the turtles pile into the car. They were safer.

The leader called everyone into the main part of the lair and Splinter said goodbye to his grandchildren and daughter, knowing that they would see each other soon, and wishing them well. Lucy happened to be the most problem child of the group. She happened to grab his beard and ear, intent on playing with her grandfather.

"Lucy…Lucy…" the mutant rat said, trying to pry the infant's fingers from his tender ear. "Lucy let go, darling." He repeated and looked up at Mikey.

Mikey thought it was cute, but came over and managed to pry Lucy away from Splinter. "Sorry about that Master Splinter."

The ninja master chuckled. "No worries, Michelangelo." He patted his son's head. "She is very much like you."

Mikey smiled and rubbed the back of his neck with the hand not holding Lucy. He had pulled on his sensei's beard as a child…

"Let's go." Leo said somberly.

The other's fell in step behind him, knowing that this was for the best and wouldn't last for very long.

It didn't take very long before they reached the van. April unlocked the doors and climbed in, waiting for the family to say their goodbyes. It was starting to get cold, so the teen turned on the van and turned up the heater.

As the minutes ticked by, Leo, whose arms were wrapped around his children whispered a Japanese farewell. Claire didn't understand very well, but it was soothing. Vincent was fast asleep and Leo carefully transferred the baby to his daughter's arms. "Take good care of yourself and your brother. I'll be back to get you soon. And try to have a bit of fun."

Claire nodded, brushing away a tear with one hand. Leo kissed the top of her head. "Do not cry, oujo. Otousan will not leave his beautiful princess for very long."

Claire blushed slightly and hugged her father tight.

Donnie, who had finally got Gianna to go to sleep gave the sleeping turtle to Sebastian before hugging both of them. "Take good care of each other and listen to what Bernadette tells you, ok?"

Sebastian nodded. "See you soon, dad."

Mikey had already managed to get Lucy and Cyprian into the van. Cyprian was practically bouncing in place, super excited about the trip.

Raph, on the other hand, was having a difficult time with Elizabeth and Gabriel. Somehow the baby had woken up when Raph passed the baby to his daughter and was putting up a fuss and neither his sister nor his father could sooth him.

"Aw sewer apples…" Raph muttered, trying to think of a way to calm him and quick. Without thinking, a lullaby came to mind and he thought "what the heck" and started singing.

"Mori mo iyagaru, Bon kara saki-nya  
Yuki mo chiratsuku-shi, Ko mo naku-shi

Bon ga kita-tote, Nani ureshi-karo  
Katabira wa nashi, Obi wa nashi

Kono ko you naku, Mori wo ba ijiru  
Mori mo ichi-nichi, Yaseru-yara

Hayo-mo yuki-taya, Kono zaisho koete  
Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi  
Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi."

At first, Gabriel's cries only worsened, but they gradually decreased in intensity and eventually fell silent. Sighing in relief, Raph touched his daughter's head. "That's called Takeda Lullaby. I'll have Donnie send you a copy."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"With this." Donnie butted in, opening a bag he had slung over his shoulder. Inside was a computer and several t-phones. "These are for Bernadette, Cyprian, Sebastian, Elizabeth and Claire. The smaller devices are T-phones and the larger one is a computer. April will show you how they work when you get to the farmhouse."

April nodded from the driver seat.

The three older ninjas turned to their sister and commenced a group hug.

"If you need us, for any reason, don't hesitate to call." Leo said.

"Try to have a little fun." Donnie continued.

"And try not to worry too much. We have Leo for that." Raph snarked.

"Hey!"

Bernadette chuckled, holding back tears as she hugged her brothers back. "You'll come for us soon, right?"

"Promise." They replied.

And with that, Bernadette nodded and pulled away, crawling into the van. With a nod to April, Donnie handed the bag to the girl and after a few moments, the three turtle ninjas watched as their sister, friend, Mikey, and the eight youngest turtles made their way to safety.

* * *

A/N: And that's that.

WE DON'T OWN THE LULLABY! THAT BELONGS TO JAPAN!

We just really liked it... :)

Please leave a review, we'd love to hear from you!

Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

~R&amp;R


	13. Chapter 12

Merry Christmas, Everyone! (We know not everyone celebrates it. TODAY IS CHRISTMAS...well...unless you live in Asia...and some parts of Europe... Regardless, for our time zone, it's still Dec. 25th.)

And here's another chapter for you! Enjoy and please leave a review!

* * *

Chapter 12

The journey to the farmhouse went off without a hitch. Besides Mikey and Cyprian's excitement about being on the road, the party wagon was pretty quiet. Traveling at night had its perks.

April stopped at a store as they got closer to the farmhouse and picked up some groceries. After strict instructions were given to Mikey and Cyprian to _not touch it_ until they got the house, the rest of the trip was made in silence.

When they arrived at their destination, the small turtles looked out of the windows with wide eyes. The house was a large, two story farmhouse with slight colonial style. Large bay windows were erected on the front of the lower story to let in lots of light. There was a large front porch that Cyprian ran up to as soon as the door was open and looked around, wide eyed.

April smiled and walked to the front door, leading the more reluctant turtles. Mikey held both Vincent and Lucy in his arms, both still asleep, while Bernadette carried a slightly rambunctious Gabriel, and Sebastian carried Gianna. Claire rushed to Cyprian's side and peered cautiously in the windows, wiping away some of the dust.

Inside was a rather plain house. It was functional, but the dust that seemed to settle fluttered in the non-moving air. As April opened the door, the dust took off in different directions, fluttering all around to find a new home. The girl was the first to enter the darkened home, shortly followed by Mikey and then the others.

"Wow, April…This place is pretty dirty." The orange masked turtle commented.

"Course it is. It's been years since we've been here."

Bernadette pulled Gabriel's hand from a dusty table and looked around. "Anyway we could clean this place up a bit before you go?"

April nodded and headed to the garage.

The younger turtles, not really sure what to do, corralled in the living room and sat on the rug. Too cautious to explore, but too curious to be frozen to a spot.

Mikey and Bernadette instructed the kids to not wander off and when April returned, started to clear away the dust to make the house more livable.

* * *

Cyprian was bored out of his mind.

His dad had told him to stay in the farmhouse, but he was going stir crazy in there!

He couldn't understand how anyone, let alone his dad, could stay in there for so long. So he ventured out into the unknown.

Well, as unknown as he dared.

Anyone would think that the outside was boring, but not Cyprian! He loved the green grass, the towering trees, and the big red barn.

The barn kind of reminded him of his uncle Raph, Liz and Gabe because of its color. (He had decided that Elizabeth and Gabriel were too long to remember and nick names were in order, just like when they were captives of the Kraang).

Along with the grass, trees and the barn, there was another structure.

It was about his height, but it had a little ramp and a minuscule door that was about the size of his little sister and baby cousins.

_What's this?_ He wondered to himself, as he climbed up the little ramp. _Guess there's one way to find out!_

He, slightly nervous, crawled up the ramp and opened the tiny door to see weird creatures. They were big and fluffy with yellow, glass looking mouths. He had thought that his father had mentioned them….what were they called again?

Oh! _Chickens!_

The chickens looked like they were asleep, so he stayed really quiet.

Well….as quiet as a hyperactive, bored seven year old could get.

He looked around the rest of the structure. It looked much bigger on the inside then it appeared on the outside. From the looks of it, there was enough room in there for him _and_ the three other seven year olds.

Maybe he should show them!

So he did.

* * *

"What the heck is this!?" Elizabeth exclaimed with disgust. "It's dirty and gross and smells funky!"

"I think," Sebastian answered. "It's called a chicken coop."

"Why a 'coop'?" Claire apprehensively asked. "Why couldn't they call it a 'chicken house'?"

"I don't know." The smart cousin replied. "I'll ask Bea to call dad and ask him."

"Well, I thought it was a cool place to play!" Cyprian said, while focusing his gaze on his three toes.

"You're not wrong, Rian." Claire comforted, using his newly acquired nickname, "It does have space and it's very…um…very…." She bumbled, trying to find the right word.

"Private?" Sebastian suggested.

"Exactly!"

"So, Ri." Elizabeth continued. "What do you want to play?"

A smile the distance of the moon and back lit up his freckled, blue eyed face. "I thought we could play ninjas, or we could be pirates trying to nab the sacred idol of the chicken people!"

The three cousins thought for a moment.

"I like the pirate idea better." Sebastian replied. "We don't know a lot of ninjitsu skills and the second idea is more creative."

Claire and Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Pirates it is!" Cyprian exclaimed proudly.

* * *

"Arrrg ye mateys! Here be the sacred idol of Chickenopolis!" Cyprian, who had been watching way too many tv shows – in Elizabeth's opinion – yelled, holding up a fairly large egg that he snuck out from under one of the chickens.

"Avast ye scurvy dogs!" Sebastian continued, adding to the story. "Now that we have seized the sacred idol, we must flee! Or the army of chicken demons will attack our ship, mateys!"

"Yeah! Um….I-I mean arrrrgh!" Claire said, trying her best to stay in character, briny accent and all, and failing.

"Guys! Quiet down or you're gonna wake up the—I mean, arrg, quick mateys! Escape the wooden fortress of the chicken people with the idol! We shall bring it to our pirate guardians!" Liz tried to indirectly warn her cousins of their impending doom by chickens.

Ever since Cyprian yelled, the chickens had started to awaken. Elizabeth had seen the beady eyes open and knew that trouble was brewing if they didn't get out quickly.

Cyprian, who opened his mouth to say how ridiculous that was, was cut off by a loud _bacawk!_

Turning slowly, the white masked turtle looked over his shoulder, his blue eyes widening. "Oh….My….Booyakasha…"

"Uh guys…" Sebastian said, grabbing the back of Cyprian's shell and pulling. "RUN FOR IT!"

With that, the four turtles scrambled through the little door, down the ramp and out into the open grass, screaming all the way.

* * *

Bernadette, April and Mikey were getting increasingly worried.

They had finished getting most of the dust out of the farmhouse, finally, but the four seven year olds had been missing for hours.

Worst still, the babies were starting to get fussy and Mikey needed help making food for them all (well, not really. But he did want Cyprian to watch him so he could make meals for his cousins, sister and aunt later).

"Where the shell could they—" Mikey was beginning to ask when he was suddenly cut off by a moderately loud "RUN FOR IT!"

The next thing the orange masked turtle, his sister and their red headed friend knew, the small group of seven year olds came running, at high speed, out from an unknown source with…chickens chasing them?

"I think we found them." April concluded.

"Yup." Bea concurred.

* * *

Once everyone was cleaned and fed, Vincent yawned. He was sitting in his sister's lap, nuzzling his cheek against her plastron. Today had been an interesting day, and no one was really surprised that he was tuckered out.

Lucy began to fuss, obviously tired, but didn't want to sleep. Gianna was content to curl up on a pillow and put her thumb in her mouth.

Gabe, on the other hand, showed no signs of sleeping. He was up and on the go.

Mikey, Bea and Liz were chasing the baby around and he was starting to wear them out…

Eventually, Liz was able to scoop her brother up and held onto him pretty tight. "Alright, Gabe. Bed time." She said forcefully.

The baby started to fuss, raising a hand to slap at her, which the older turtle grabbed. "No. No."

* * *

It took some time, but they managed to get all the babies to sleep, and then Mikey and April said their goodbyes.

"Take good care of each other, okay?" Mikey said to Liz, Claire, Sebastian and Cyprian. "Keep the little ones out of trouble."

"Yes, Uncle Mikey." Liz, Claire and Sebastian chorused.

Cyprian nodded and hugged his dad.

April showed Bea one last time how to use the t-phone and smiled. "If you need us, let us know."

"Will do," Bea replied, smiling and hugging her friend and her brother.

"See you soon!" Mikey called as he climbed into the Party wagon and drove away.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this little Interlude.

Next chapter...prepare for some feels...

Until next time, Leave a review, please!

~R&amp;R


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY EPIPHANY!

Whoa...we are at chapter 13? When did this happen?

(Leo: Now.)

(Rachel: *slaps muse*) ((Sidenote: Rachel RPs as Leo on Tumblr.))

Annnny way... Renee and I were thinking about working on two stories at once. We are thinking about posting a Human!AU story with the turtles and Bernadette. If you are interested, please let us know! (And if you hate the idea, let us know a good reason why, please. Constructive Criticism. No flames, this will be Renee's first solo story.)

ANNNND without further Adieu, welcome to Chapter 13!

Warning: Prepare yourselves for feels.

* * *

Chapter 13

The next morning, after breakfast, Cyprian had grabbed Lucy and turned on the TV, wondering if they got any cool shows over here. At first, it was mostly static, but Sebastian moved the antenna around and, voilà! The static cleared to reveal a rather cheesy looking cartoon.

"Wizardess! Gra! Ride!" A yellow haired man said in an odd accent.

And from that moment, the two were hooked.

It was a goofy show, _Crognard the Barbarian_, but it was funny.

* * *

Claire, in the meantime, had gone on to explore some more of the house. Vincent, not wanting to be left behind, followed her as far as he could (meaning to the stairs) and then cried a bit before his sister picked him up and brought him with her.

She already knew most of the rooms in this house, since April had given the older four and Bea a tour of the place, but there were some rooms she wasn't sure of their location. So, after some trial and error, she finally found the room she was looking for.

She wasn't sure whose room this had been at one time, but there was a small shelf full of books. Setting Vincent down beside her, she pulled out one of the books and opened it. It was not very big, and had a bright colors on the front. There was a picture of a turtle swinging on a clock.

"Look, Vincent! It's a turtle!"

Vincent smiled and clapped his hands together.

* * *

Liz picked Gabe up and looked outside. While they had been driving to the farmhouse, it had started to snow, just light flurries, but none of it was sticking. Just looking at the fluffy cold ice made Liz shiver. Making a face, she took her brother up the stairs and started filling the tub with warm water.

Gabriel watched his sister, his eyes narrowing with each passing second as the tub filled with steaming water.

Elizabeth stood and grabbed two towels and a soft looking brush and placed on a nearby stool. Then she turned to where Gabriel had been just a moment before…only to be met with empty floor.

The smaller turtle was crawling as fast as he could over to the door.

Sighing, the larger turtle walked over to the child and picked him up. "You know, for a little guy, you are fast." She said to the squirming turtle before almost tossing him into the warm water.

Gabe dipped under the water for a moment before coming to the surface on his carapace, staring up at her with a scowl on his face.

"I know. I know. But you are filthy."

The baby turtle crossed his arms, mimicking his father, as his sister climbed into the tub with him, grabbing the brush as she did so. Crossing her arms in a no nonsense way, she stared at her brother, green eyes meeting green eyes. "Well, are you going to turn over?"

The little turtle kicked at her, splashing her face and mask. The turtle's second eye lid covered her eyes as the water hit her face before blinking away. "That's not going to get you out of here any faster."

Gabe held up the face for a long moment before turning over and swimming over to her and turning his back to her.

Smiling in victory, Elizabeth brought out the brush and started brushing his carapace, surprising the little boy. At first he was shocked and then, begrudgingly, allowed himself to be brushed.

"Thought you'd like that." Liz said with a chuckle, causing her brother to pout some more, which lead the older turtle to laugh even louder.

* * *

Several days passed and adventures in the farmhouse continued. Sebastian had taken residence in the barn and had found several older machines. He was currently trying to take the pieces of those machines and turn them into more useful things for the house, namely a basking lamp.

The upcoming winter wasn't that kind for cold-blooded turtles like himself, his sister, aunt and cousins.

Each night, without fail, they would receive a skype or phone call from New York, ranging from a "hi" to an update, depending if there was any progress on the Kraang plot.

At least…until one Monday.

It was about a week after April had left the turtles had left the farmhouse…and Bea, Claire, Sebastian, Elizabeth and Cyprian had gone the whole day without hearing one thing from New York.

At first, Bea brushed it off, saying that they were probably working on something important and would call later.

But later eventually became midnight…and even Donnie would have made sure to contact them before then…

So, while all the other turtles were asleep, Bea pulled out her T-phone and called Donnie T-phone.

* * *

At a gas station on the way to the farmhouse, April and Casey had decided to switch drivers.

Once she was in the driver seat, an odd thought crossed her mind as the lights from the gas station faded into the night. "Oh gosh… We didn't call Bea…"

"What?" Casey asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

"We didn't call Bernadette!"

"Oh man! She's going to kill us…" Raph said from the back, his voice tired, but hadn't slept a wink since they left New York.

The sleeping octopus, aka: Mikey, in Raph's lap had fallen asleep almost 10 miles back, but only after Raph had promised to wake him should something happen to Leo.

Leo hadn't moved once, save for the rocking of the van as they drove, since they left New York. And that troubled Donnie. The purple masked turtle kept a steadfast vigil over his eldest brother, checking his breathing and pulse regularly.

There had already been one scare. About 5 miles back, Leo had stopped breathing audibly, forcing Donnie to perform CPR. Needless to say, the incident had scared all of them, and they all promised silently not to tell Mikey, who had slept through all of it, or Bea.

"Well, who's going to call her, then?" Casey asked.

As he spoke, Donnie's T-Phone rang.

"Oh…shoot…" Four voices chorused.

Donnie picked up his phone, to see that it was, in fact, Bea calling. Looking between the phone and Leo he tossed it towards Casey. "Jones, can you answer this for me?"

"Why can't you?"

"Because I'm making sure that Leo's heart doesn't stop…again."

"Hm…Good point." The hockey player replied before answering the phone. "Hello."

"_WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO YOU!?"_

Casey had to hold the phone at arm's length away from his head…and could _still_ hear every word clearly. "How do you know that word?" He asked rhetorically.

"Put her on speaker." Raph ordered, which Casey did, if only to save his ears.

"_Are you guys gonna answer my question, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"_

Casey gave Raph a look. "Through the phone?"

"_Don't tempt me, Jones."_

Casey held up a hand in surrender.

"We're on our way to the farmhouse, Bea." April answered the turtle girl's question.

The other end was silent for a moment. "_Should I celebrate…or be worried?"_

"Probably worried." Casey replied, receiving a smack from Raph a second later.

"_What. Happened."_ Bernadette ordered from the other end of the phone, her voice as scary as Splinter and Leo on a bad day.

Donnie finally spoke up. "The Kraang found the lair. They destroyed the place and chased us all over New York. We had to split up…and The Shredder found Leo…"

There was silence on the other end.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it for you…He's in bad shape. But Leo's alive, and that's what matters."

"_How long until you get here?"_

"As long as we don't run into any delays," April took over. "I'd say 6 hours. We have to drive a bit slower to account for Leo's injuries."

Silence on the other end for a long moment. _"What should I tell Claire?"_

Silence filled the van. What should they tell Leo's daughter? Vincent was too young to understand…but Claire definitely would understand.

And that was scarier than anything Bernadette could throw at them.

"Is she awake?" Raph asked, breaking the silence.

"_Not right now. I just checked."_

"Ok. If she asks, tell her that we are on our way to the farmhouse for a visit." Raph said firmly, looking down at his unconscious brother.

"_I'm not sure she'll buy it…but ok." _Bea said, sounding much calmer. _"How is he, right now?"_

"He's alive." Donnie reported once more.

There was a sigh of relief on the other end. Followed by a warning beep coming from Donnie's phone. Casey looked at the device to see a red battery bar flashing. It was empty.

"Bae, we are going to have to hang up now. Donnie's phone's about to die," He yawned. "And I need to grab a nap if I'm going to relieve April before we get to the farmhouse.

"_It's Bea, Jones."_

"Same letters."

"_Call me that again, and I will kill you through the phone."_

Casey rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Bae."

A loud _fwap_ sounded in the car as Raph's hand collided with Casey's skull. "That's my sister you are talking about, buddy boy."

"Alright, alright, geez." The boy said, rubbing his head. "Goodnight, Bea."

"_Night, guys. See you in the morning."_

* * *

Light from the dawn streamed through the windows of the farmhouse. Claire was the first awake, rubbing her eyes and making her way to the window, expecting to see more snow…only to see green grass! It was warmer out today, and the flurries were nowhere in sight.

Holding in a laugh of glee, Claire grabbed her turquoise mask and tied it on before hurrying as quietly as she could down the stairs and out the door.

Running out to the field between the barn and the house, she took a deep breath of the dewy warm air and slipped into one of the katas that her jiichan had taught her before she, her cousins and aunt had left the comforts of the sewers. She barely noticed the sound of the door opening as Bea came out and sat on the porch, nor did she feel any of the distress that hung over her aunt.

Enjoying the sun after several days of cold was simply heavenly.

But one sound did grab her attention.

The sound of a vehicle pulling up.

"Claire." Bea called, as the girl in question ran up from the yard to where the very familiar van pulled up.

Claire smiled as the door opened, hoping to tackle hug her father…

Only to be met by a rather somber looking Mikey, who held out an arm towards her, telling her to stop.

Looking around her uncle, she saw Donnie and Raph rush out of van with something dangling between them. "Did you get the tub ready, Bea?" April asked, making her away around the van.

"Just like you guys asked."

Claire tried to move around Mikey to see what was going on. She couldn't make out the shape of the thing hanging between her uncles…but she couldn't see her father anywhere. "Otosan? Otosan?" she asked.

Mikey knelt down and held his niece. "He's here. He's…just not in the best shape right now, Claire-bear."

She tried to struggle out of Mikey's arms, but her uncle was strong. She managed to wiggle a bit to see Donnie and Raph heading into the house…and there was a third arm dangling between the two.

Leo's lifeless arm almost dragging on the ground.

She began to struggle even more. "_Otosan!"_

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the feels.

By the way, we were inspired by a similar scene in Warner Brothers Movie Quest for Camelot for the final scene. For copyright purposes, we do NOT own that idea. That belongs to Warner Brothers.

As a warning: The feels continue into the next chapter.

Please leave a Review! Thanks!

~R&amp;R


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hi again, guys! **

**So we left a little question for you guys last time, and no one replied to it...so we're going to ask again. **

**Renee and I are thinking about publishing a Human!AU for turtles and Bernadette, in a parallel universe. And we wanted to know your guy's opinion about that before we did so. (Tell us if you like the idea or hate it! Give us good reasons for both, please. Construtive critism is requested here, not flames. )**

**Alright, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 14

Vincent woke up screaming.

And with him, the entire house awoke.

While Donnie and Raph rushed Leo to the tub on the second floor, Casey and April dashed all over the upper floor trying to quiet the babies. April rushed to the girls' room and managed to get both Lucy and Gianna in her arms, rocking them in a soothing manner. Gianna seemed to be soothed instantly, falling back into the gentle waves of sleep. But Lucy's cries didn't ease as quickly.

Casey, on the other hand, ran into the boys' room and found the screaming Vincent and a definitely not happy Gabriel. Attempting to do the same as April, the hockey player managed to get both boys in his arms…but that's where the similarities ended.

Gabriel, unhappy with being woken up by his screaming cousin, had crawled up Casey's arm and reached his shoulder. Once seated, he started hitting the boy's protected head. It was good that the hockey player had not taken off his hockey mask…

"Ow…Dude!" Casey said, forced to put the wailing Vincent down before reaching up and pulling Gabriel down. The infant was still swinging punches, but now at a safe distance. "Chill man!"

Once the baby realized that it was not Casey's fault that he had been woken up, he stopped and looked around for the sound. Casey, seeing that injury had been averted, put the child down and picked Vincent back up. He attempted to rock the child in a soothing fashion, but was met with less than desired results.

Not sure what he could do, he looked into the doorway to see Bea walking in. She took Vincent from Casey's arms and soothed the child, rocking him back to sleep. Giving Casey a sassy grin, she said to the hockey player. "How about that, 'Bae'?"

Casey rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

* * *

Mikey's arms tightened around Claire after her terrified cry for her father. It was heart wrenching…and Mikey wasn't quite sure how to deal with that. The seven year old wasn't as strong as he was, but she was putting up quite a fight.

"Let me see him…Please, Uncle Mikey! Please!" Her voice croaked in his ears.

"Give them a minute, Claire." The orange masked turtle said calmly. "They are getting him fixed up a bit."

"But…but….otosan…"

Mikey gently rubbed her carapace. "He's ok. He just needs some time to recover. He got pretty beat up…"

Claire stopped fighting for a moment and leaned into her uncle.

"He's going to be ok. Leo's a ninja, he's going to be just fine." The ninja whispered. "Everything's going to be alright."

The irony of the statement hit Mikey like a cold water balloon to the face. He had said the same thing to his brother not two days before…

Claire sniffled and her uncle scooped her into his arms and carried her inside. Settling her on the couch, he made his way to the kitchen to get her something to drink.

The turtle girl stayed where she was long enough for Mikey to move out of her line of sight before standing and making his way towards the stairs. The sounds coming from upstairs sounded warped, as if she was hearing it all through cotton in her ears.

Making it one step after another up the staircase, everything seemed to slow down, and it felt like it took an eternity to make it to the top…and then another eternity to make it to the bathroom.

Once she entered the room, she saw something brown in the corner. She recognized it as her father's katana's sheaths, belt and strap. It all felt surreal. But she continued to move into the bathroom, her eyes turning to see Donnie leave the bathroom. Leaving only her, Raph and Leo in the bathroom.

All Claire could think about was a story that Leatherhead had told her as a child. Once about a guardian spirit that watched over a friend as they slept. The guardian spirit would soothe the friend's nightmares away and would nurse him back to health, presenting the friend with food and comforts of home once the creature awoke.

But things seemed different from that.

The friend in the story hadn't been hurt…

Her steps brought her beside the tub, where she had a full view of her father's face.

Leo was a lighter shade of green, as if the blood in his body had been drained a bit. And there were several bruises…

And two very….interesting, though she was sure that was the wrong word to use, cuts down the right side of his face. They were parallel to each other and it looked like small knots of thread were holding the flesh together. What had Sebastian said things like that were?

Stitches?

She could see the upper part of his plastron, it was damaged…and the most concerning damage was a rather substantial crack in Leo's shell.

And that's when things started to blur.

She wasn't sure when the tears started coming, but all of a sudden she couldn't see. She tried blinking the extra water from her eyes, but it was futile. She placed a hand on Leo's undamaged shoulder, the only thing that didn't look black and blue or scratched to pieces.

"Otosan…Otosan…" She repeated, trying to shake him awake.

Before a larger hand rested on her shoulder and pulled her away slightly.

Uncle Raph was looking at here somberly. "That's not going to work. Let him rest."

"But…" The tears started running down her cheeks.

Raph wrapped his arms around her and pulled the little turtle girl into his lap. "He'll be ok. We just have to wait."

* * *

It didn't take very long for the rest of the house to find out what had happened. With Claire, Raph and Leo in the bathroom, and with Vincent's cries waking the rest of the house, Elizabeth, Cyprian, and Sebastian made their way down stairs.

The happy reunion didn't last very long, considering the expressions that played along Mikey and Donnie's face.

"Where's Dad?" Elizabeth asked.

Donnie looked up the stairs towards the bathroom. "With Leo."

"What happened, father?" Sebastian asked, coming over to stand by his father.

Donnie considered telling them right then and there, but stopped. Claire, the one who deserved to hear the story more than anyone, wasn't available at this time. "If you'll be patient, we need to wait until when Claire is available."

Elizabeth looked ready to protest, but Cyprian gave her a look, and the crimson masked turtle reluctantly accepted her uncle's explanation and headed into the kitchen. "Any ideas for breakfast? I'm hungry."

Cyprian followed after her. "Sure! Eggs?"

The girl groaned. "Again? Don't we have anything else?"

"Not unless you want to venture out the store!"

"….fine."

Mikey looked at Donnie. "We should ask April if she can make a grocery run…"

* * *

It wasn't until dinner time that Raph was able to coax Claire to come out of the bathroom. The turtle girl in blue hadn't eaten all day, and wasn't all that hungry.

But Raph had promised that he would give her answers if she came down and ate with the rest of the family.

Casey had gotten back from the store with a decent amount of food, which Cyprian and Mikey had made into the closest thing to a three course meal that you could get from the little food they had. Elizabeth and Sebastian had managed to keep Gabriel, Lucy and Gianna occupied for the day. Vincent, on the other hand, hadn't left April's arms.

Something about this morning had been odd, and April had kind of picked up on it. Vincent had reacted very strongly to the arrival of the turtles, Casey, and herself. Elizabeth had even pointed that out, saying that Vincent had been his usual, quiet, and calm self for the past few days. Laughing and causing some, but not a lot of, trouble. But then, this morning, all madness had broken loose with the child.

It was a strange mystery, and one that April wasn't sure she could solve right now. Not with the child's father in such a perilous condition.

The group sat in relative silence as they began to eat the food prepared. Well, everyone but Claire.

Raph gave the girl a look, to which the blue masked turtle nodded and reluctantly began to eat the food.

Once everyone had finished, Donnie sat back a bit. "So…I guess an explanation is in order."

"Yeah. That sounds right." Bernadette replied, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Give him a break, Bae." Casey piped up, earning a glare from the girl turtle. Before barbs could be thrown, Raph gave them both a look, and turned their attention to Donnie.

The purple masked turtle took a sip of his water before speaking. "Well, Leo was right. The Kraang didn't wait too long after we sent you all out here. Their goal had been to find the lair before starting the invasion so they could wipe us out. Splinter sent us out of the lair, stating that he would join us after he finished the Kraang off. On our way out….Leo and I started arguing about what to do next…and we ended up getting separated."

Claire's facial expression was blank, reminiscent of Leo's mask when he was thinking and didn't want others to know how he felt about a particular issue.

"While the rest of us regrouped, Leo got caught by the Shredder. Shell knows what happened…but the crack in his shell and the gashes on his face say enough."

Vincent's face started to crumple into a distressed expression. April could see the storm approaching and wondered if she should leave the room. The bottle she was attempting to feed the baby became uninteresting to the child and he pushed it out of his mouth.

Again attempting to stop the cries before they started, the girl started rocking the baby…to no avail.

A whimper escaped Vincent.

"Casey went to go find his family and the rest of us went to go find Splinter." Donnie continued. "When we finally found him, he was in a battle with the Shredder…and we couldn't do anything…Shredder threw him down a drain pipe…"

Just as Donnie finished, a pained wail escaped Vincent's mouth, startling even Claire out of the depressing fog that seemed to hang around the rest of them.

April continued to attempt to soothe the child, but to no avail.

Before she could ask for help, Claire was at her side, and taking her baby brother from the girl's arms.

"It'll be ok, otouto." Claire whispered to her brother, hugging him tight and rubbing his shell.

Within moments, the baby quieted.

"Everything will be ok, otouto…" `

* * *

**A/N: There is a reason as to why Vincent is reacting so strangely. We'll get to that later...but in the mean time: What do you think is going on with him?**

**Also, please let us know what you think about a Human!Au with Bernadette! Pretty please?**

**Reviews are always apperciated!**

**~R&amp;R**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Be warned, cavities may appear at the end of this chapter.**

**After feels.**

**Rachel: *evil cackles***

**Leo: *Appears and smacks Rachel***

**Rachel: OI! COME HERE, MUSE! RENEE, CATCH HIM!**

**Leo: *Gracefully dodges hands***

**Renee: *Le eye roll* Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 15

The next three months went by slowly, one day at a time. At first, things were quiet, as the family waited for the eldest turtle to wake…

But day after day, he didn't.

Eventually, Donnie and Sebastian started spending more and more time in the barn. The indigo masked turtle had shown his father the basking lamp he had started building, and the elder, purple masked turtle had helped his son. They had successfully built a better one then the one they had left behind in New York City.

It was one of these days that father and son had brought Gianna with them. She had been very moody of late, frustrated that she could not communicate properly…well, that was what April said anyway. Considering the girl was able to use her psychic abilities-sometimes without realizing it-the human had accidentally peered into the child's mind.

According to what April said, Gianna was much more intelligent than originally thought.

With that brought to Donnie's attention, the purple masked turtle was doing his best to help his daughter communicate in a way that she could.

Sadly, the girl's attempt at handwriting was too sloppy to understand, and a computer only frustrated her with her little hands. Eventually, the girl got so frustrated that she would just turn to April to convey what she wanted to say.

But that wasn't as useful as they thought it would. April wasn't always available, and when she was, there were times where she couldn't translate exactly what Gianna wanted to say, leaving the girl more frustrated than when she started.

And today just happened to be one of those days.

Gianna sat watching her father and brother as they worked on the large lamp, moping. Sebastian had given her some paper and crayons to keep her occupied, however the objects just reminded her of her failed attempts to communicate.

Swinging her little legs, she watched the other turtles work, wishing she could help.

* * *

Three months passed before anyone really realized it. And Leo had yet to awake.

Claire was getting worried. There had been an argument that had ensued the other day between Donnie and Bernadette. One that the older turtles thought that the children had not heard.

"_What if he doesn't wake up? This isn't a normal sleep, Donnie. This has to be a coma!"_

"_That's not going to happen, he'll wake up, coma or not."_

"_I've done my research, D. There are quite a few cases where comatose persons do not wake up, or at the very least, have memory problems after awaking from long slumbers."_

"_He'll wake up and be just fine. He has to."_

"…_You know this isn't your fault."_

"_No. It is."_

"_No it's not."_

"_I was the one that argued with him, Bea. I'm the one that forced his hand." _With every word that tumbled from the purple masked turtle's lips, his voice got tighter and tighter._ "The one that separated the group. I was the one that caused him to face the Shredder by himself. He wouldn't have…"_

Donnie's voice finally cracked and Claire had been able to hear him cry.

"_It's going to be ok…" _Bernadette had whispered to her brother, and Claire could only hope that she was right.

The young turtle in a blue mask lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, the conversation bounced around in her mind, the force that kept her up, even when the time flashed 3 am.

She was incredibly tired, but unable to sleep, while her roommate, Liz, slept like a rock, snoring lightly.

What would happen if Leo didn't wake up?

What would happen to Vincent? He'd never really remember his father…

What would happen to her? Would she have to take over raising her brother? She had looked after him considerably while they had been in Dimension X, but that had changed when her father and uncles had stormed into their former "home" on the heels of Leatherhead and freed them.

But things were different now. She didn't have to be the adult at seven years old with her father and grandfather around.

How quickly the situation had changed…

Before she realized it, she started drifting into sleep…and into a dream.

* * *

It was so dark. So dark that she couldn't see her hand if she held it in front of her face.

But every sound was amplified.

Particularly one word that bounced across the black landscape.

"_Claire…"_

"_Who's there?" _The girl cried out.

"_I can't come back to you, oujo…I have to leave…"_

Wait…she recognized that nickname…

"_Daddy? What? Daddy no!" _She cried out, her arms frantically trying to search the darkness for her father in it. _"You can't! You have to come back!"_

"_I'm sorry, Princess..."_ Her father's voice replied, sounding distant and sad. _"I can't come back…I can't…"_

"_Bu-but you _have to!_ What about Vincent? Aunt Bea? Uncles Raph, Donnie and Mikey? Auntie April and Uncle Casey? What about my cousins? What about me? I need you, daddy…"_

"_I'm so sorry, my little Claire…" _the voice was fading fast and Claire became frantic, searching faster and trying to run in the darkness towards the voice, trying to stop him from going._ "I can't…I have to leave. I love you, my little girl."_

"_No! Daddy, No!"_

"_Goodbye, my little Claire…" _Leo's voice said once more, before fading into silence.

"_Dad? Daddy? Daddy! Please come back! I'll do anything! Please….just don't leave me… Don't leave me, Daddy! DADDY!"_

* * *

"DADDY!" She screamed, bolting upright in her bed, eyes wide and scared, and her cheeks soaked with tears.

She shakily got out of the bed and raced to the bathroom, where she hoped he's still be…yes, he was there.

Or at least, his body was anyway.

She quickly closed the distance between the door and the tub and began to check her father's vital signs, as Raph had recently shown her.

He was still breathing and had a pulse.

He was still here.

Breathing a sigh of relief, and shedding a few more tears from the fright that had chased her here, she climbed into the tub and rested on her father's plastron, in the same way that Vincent would do to her. She wrapped her arms around her father and rested her head by her father's. "I love you, daddy…Please don't leave me…Please don't go…"

She reached up and kissed his cheek before falling asleep, giving no mind to the water that surrounded her and her father.

* * *

Raphael was sound asleep, and loving it.

He'd been up for long hours, keeping an eye on Leo, but he didn't mind staying up if it meant that he would be there for his brother when he woke.

Not if. When.

Tonight, though, he'd been extremely tired and even if he wasn't falling asleep standing up, Donnie, April, Casey, and even Mikey would have forced him to go to bed. They would have dragged him, with no qualms about "any means necessary."

Fortunately, he'd been able to keep his dignity…and sobriety, considering that Donnie would have drugged him.

He was comfortably asleep, snoring softly, when a scream echoed through the farmhouse.

Had he not been a well-trained ninja, or gotten used to being a father, the sound might not have awoken him from his sleep. However, he happened to be both…and he was awake before he could regret waking.

Bleary eyed, he sat up and searched for the source of the scream, his ears taking over where his sleepy eyes could not. He could hear the pitter-patter of seven-year-old feet, a sound he recognized anywhere. It had been three months after all, and he and his brothers had come to recognize whose feet were whose.

Rubbing his eyes, he got to his feet, leaving the comfort of the sheets, and made his way to the bathroom down the hall. Before he opened the door, he heard her voice, confirming what the feet told him.

"Please don't leave me…"

Claire.

He had obviously known the strain that Leo's comatose state had been on himself, his brothers, sister, friends, children, nephews and nieces. But he hadn't thought about how strongly it would affect Leo's daughter. Granted, the girl barely left Leo's side, just like himself. But it was different for both of them.

He wasn't completely oblivious to Claire's pain. He had seen the expression that had crossed her face the moment he and Donnie had carried Leo out of the party wagon, and had heard her cries while Mikey struggled to keep her away, at least until they could get him in the tub.

He peaked into the bathroom to see the girl was in the tub with her father. As cute as it might be…tonight was not one of the nights to be in the tub. Donnie had installed a small heater for Leo, but that probably wouldn't be enough for both of them.

It was cold out. And the cold blooded members of the house could feel it through the walls and floor.

Raph grabbed a towel and walked into the bathroom, picking her up gently and wrapping her in the towel.

She shivered a little and cracked open her eyes.

"Uncle Raphie?" She sleepily muttered.

Now. No one got away with calling him "Raphie" these days, not even Mikey, but considering the circumstances, Raph thought he'd allow it for tonight.

"Yeah, Claire. I'm here."

"Daddy…" She moaned, reaching for the tub as her uncle dried her off and wrapped her tigher in the towel.

"C'mon, squirt. You can sit with him tomorrow. A growing turtle's gotta sleep in a warm, comfy bed."

She whined in response, snuggling her head into her uncle's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Claire, I know." Raph bantered with her, smiling at her little pout. "C'mon…you can hug or kiss your dad one last time, but then, we've got to get you to bed, little lady. Capisce?"

Claire muttered another "mhmm" and skipped tiredly over to her dad. Once beside him, she kissed him lightly on the head and whispered, "Remember what I said, ok? I love you."

Raph smiled at his little niece's "reprimand" and noticed how she staggered back to him, rubbing her eyes.

"Okay, here we go." He said as he scooped her up in the towel he had used to dry her off, and gently carried her back to the room she shared with Elizabeth. He was careful not to wake his own daughter as he attempted to put Leo's to sleep.

He laid her carefully on her bad and tucked her in, and as he was about to leave, he barely caught her soft mutter. "Don't leave me…"

"I won't, Claire-bear. I won't." He whispered, using her new nickname, thought of by his rambunctious nephew.

Raph watched as his niece drifted off to sleep once more and slowly tiptoed out of the room, only to be met by the sight of his two sleepy younger brothers.

"Was that Claire-bear?" Donnie asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Yeah." Raph laughed at his intelligent brother's use of the nickname. "She had a nightmare and fled to the comfort of her dad."

"Oh…wow…" Mikey exclaimed softly as he yawned. "That's precious…and speaking of Claire-bear and nightmares…" With those words, Mikey held up his crudely duck taped together stuffed bear. "Should I?"

"No, little brother, I'll do it." Raph said with a smile and took the small bear, giving his brother's head a gentle pat. He turned and walked back into the bedroom, placing the small bear into his niece's arms before he crept back out.

"Alright bros," Raph said as he wrapped his arms around his brothers. "Let's hit the sack."

"M'kay, Raph…" The youngest Hamato brother yawned.

The two younger turtles headed back to the room the three of them shared, but Raph headed back to the bathroom once more. He sauntered over to his brother and placed a hand on the sleeping turtle's head.

"Wake up soon, Leo. Not just for me, but for everyone. Love you, bro."

With that, Raph sleepily bumbled back to the shared room and fell asleep.

No one noticed the small smile that crept its way onto the sleeping, wounded, teen turtle's unmasked face…

* * *

The next day was stressful.

Much to Claire's, and Raph's, disappointment, Leo had not awoken that morning. And as a result, Raph stayed with him most of the day.

Mikey, ever the optimist, was trying to keep the other's hope up.

Donnie trapped himself in the barn once more, trying to make some type of medication for Leo.

Finally, Gianna was beyond fussy and frustrated.

Her brain was moving a trillion miles per hour, but her mouth refused to formulate the words she wanted to speak.

Donnie, who had resorted—albeit begrudgingly—to using mutagen to make a medicine for Leo, didn't want Sebastian or Gianna with him in the barn. He knew the consequences of negligence when it had to do with mutagen, and he wasn't willing to bring those consequences upon his son or daughter, should something go wrong.

As a result, Gianna stayed inside with her brother, aunt, uncles, cousins, and human babysitters.

Casey, who had also woken on the wrong side of the bed that morning, was feeling more than out of sorts. Mainly because he didn't have any skulls to crack or a place to let out his frustration that didn't involve hurting someone or leading others to the farmhouse.

"Yo, guys," Casey finally fed up with the silence around the house. "Where's Beanpole? He busy napping with his daughter?" A barrage of laughter followed from the teen hockey player at his own joke.

No one else joined in.

Save for one noise. A mix between a snarl and a hiss.

"What the heck is that?" Casey asked, looking around for the noise.

"Ask Donnie's wide-awake daughter, who just happens to be right there." Raph replied, smartly.

Casey turned around to see Gianna with her very unintimidating gums bared.

"Oh, how cute! Little turtle is fighting for her daddy…" Casey said. "So you where his is, Gia?"

Gianna tried her best to speak, but she just couldn't. The words were stuck.

"Heh, that's cute. She's trying to talk, guys!" the human taunted.

That was the last straw for Gianna. She was going to talk. Today.

She let out another snarl, but what followed was unexpected.

"WAB IN DA BAWN!" Gianna screamed out.

Everyone instantly stopped what they were doing and stared at the baby girl.

"Gianna! You just said your first words!" Mikey exclaimed, shocked and happy.

"Too bad Donnie wasn't here to hear them…" April said, sadly.

"Don't be too sure about that, April." A voice called from the doorway.

Everyone looked up to see Donnie enter the room.

"Uh…How much of that conversation did you hear, dude?" Casey asked, a bit nervous. He had, after all, taunted the little girl a bit.

"Only her snarl and first words." Donnie replied.

The purple masked turtle headed over to his daughter, scooped her up and asked. "Where was Daddy, Gianna?"

"Wab in da bawn…" Gianna stated again, with a smile on her face.

"Good. Now, why were you telling them where Daddy was, little miss?" Donnie inquired.

"Mistew Jones….t-tessin'." The periwinkle-bowed baby girl stammered.

"Mister Jones was what?" Donnie asked, peering at Casey with a dangerous look on his face. If Casey had done something to his daughter, the teenage human was in for a world of hurt.

"Tessin', waffin'." Gianna replied, clarifying what she had said.

"He was _teasing _and _laughing_?" Donnie inquired.

"Mhm. A' Daddy." Gianna concluded, matter of fact.

"He was? Well, then, what do we say to Mister Jones, Gia?" Donnie asked.

"Ba' Jones, ba', ba', ba'. No tessin'. S' mean. No be ign'amoose."

"What did she say?" Raph asked, his face a mix of confusion and awe.

"She said, and I quote, 'Bad Jones, bad, bad, bad. No teasing. It's mean. Don't be an ignoramus.'" Donnie said, proud of his daughter, and surprised by her advanced vocabulary. Even if her vocabulary was garbled by her inexperienced pronunciation, it was still quite advanced.

"Wow," Casey said, the shock wearing off. "She just said her first words two minutes ago, and she's already an Einstein."

Gianna gave Casey a smug smile and rested her head on her father's shoulder before drifting off into a nap.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Renee: Annnnnnnnd thus we get Gianna's first words...uh...sentence.**

**Rachel: Uhg... *is lying on the ground***

**Leo: *smirks, foot on mun's back***

**Renee: *Gives odd look* Did you _have_ to beat her up? Get your foot off of her...or no Karai for you...OR NO HONOR!**

**Leo: *eyes widen and lifts foot***

**Rachel: ...ugh. Sorry I've been a terrible mun of late! I've been working on other projects, but I promise I haven't lost my muse, just uber distracted by an old story I found lying around. I'm thinking about publishing it. It's not Turtle's related...but it's a pretty decent story thus far (I think).**

**Renee: Anyyyyyway! Thank you, musicalocelot for the vote of confidence! We will be working to get the Human AU up by the 15th chapter of this one! If anyone else is interested, we are looking for a name. If you have any suggestions or want to know more, PM us so we can give a summary!**

**/end long Authors note...**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Four words: NEW EPISODE WAS AWESOME!**

**Ugh just...writing that for this fan fic is going to be FABULOUS!**

**Annnnnyway. Prepare yourself of feeeeeeeels. You have been warned.**

* * *

Chapter 16:

Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, April, Bernadette, and Casey went out to train, leaving Claire and Vincent in the company of Leo. The other children had scattered, going about their own business, whether it was working in the barn, training with the others or goofing off down stairs.

There were still no developments with Leo. It had been days since Raph had found Claire in the bathroom, and yet, the eldest turtle continued to sleep. His vital signs were normal, by Donnie's calculations, and he showed no signs of waking anytime soon.

Claire sat staring at her father, her brother seated in her lap, wondering if she would ever see her father open his eyes. The worries had not left her since that night, increasing with every day that Leo slept.

That horrible dream occupied her thoughts. And even though it was just a dream…it was too real to shake off.

"_I can't come back to you, oujo. I have to leave….Goodbye…I love you, my little Claire…"_

Just remembering her father's voice's insistence that he couldn't return was enough to bring tears to her eyes—

A joyful laugh snapped her out of her thoughts.

She looked to her lap, where her baby brother once sat…

Only to find it empty.

Claire, who began to panic, jumped to her feet. Frantically, she scanned the small bathroom for the small turtle.

It didn't take long for her to find him.

He sat not too far away from her, on the obscenely dirty floor next to the tub.

"Oh, _Vincent!_ What did you do?" The turtle girl asked as she picked up her grimy and dusty baby brother.

It was at that moment that Raph returned to the bathroom, looking despondent.

"Um…Uncle Raph?" Claire asked, cautiously. "Vincent got himself dirty…"

Raph blinked, his green eyes coming to focus on the two younger turtles. "He did, didn't he? Well…we need to get him cleaned up. Before we do anything, do you mind telling me how he got that way?" He asked, holding out his hands towards Claire to hand the baby over.

"Uhm…" Claire stammered as she rubbed the back of her head after handing over the baby. "I got lost in my thoughts…and he somehow got out of my lap."

"Sneaky little bugger, isn't he? Just like his father. Now to give this little ninja a bath." Raph laughed as he headed towards the door.

"Uh…I wouldn't do that, Uncle Raph…"

"Why not?" He asked, stopping in his tracks.

"He'll scream and cry if he leaves the bathroom."

At that moment, Donnie walked into the room, an eyebrow raised at the sight of his very dirty nephew. "I thought Gabe was the rambunctious one."

"Me too!" Raph pointed out. "This little runt is quite sneaky."

Donnie chuckled. "Well, then better get him washed up."

"That's what I was headed to do, but Claire stopped me. Apparently he'll scream if I take him out of here."

"Hm…" Donnie thought for a moment. "Well then, why don't you just drain the water in the tub and refill it? You'll have to drain it afterwards, but since he's so small, I don't think any of Leo's injuries will be affected by his weight."

Raph blinked and looked at Vincent before back to Donnie. "That's a good idea. Thanks, Don."

"Yeah, thanks, Uncle Donnie." Claire added, smiling.

After Raph had done as Donnie directed, Claire held her squirming, but happy brother.

"I'll go grab him a towel." Raph said, turning off the water and heading out of the room.

Claire nodded, carefully placing her brother on their father's chest in the water. Immediately, some of the grime flowed off of the baby turtle. The older girl wet her hand and gently rubbed some of the surface grim off of the baby's emerald skin, making him giggle as if she was tickling him.

The baby patted the water, seated carefully on his father's chest and the hand of his sister on his chest, keeping him upright and his face out of the water. Vincent giggled at the feeling of the water, but did not fight his sister's hand on him, rather, patting around it.

At one point, he looked at his father's face and stopped moving. Claire looked at her brother, lifting an eyebrow, wondering why the baby suddenly stopped.

The baby stared in confusion at his father's sleeping face, wondering why he wouldn't open his eyes. Leaning a bit forward in Claire's grip, he pressed his hand through the water and onto Leo's plastron.

"Up." The baby boy said, patting and splashing. "Up!"

Claire's eyes widened, surprised and overjoyed that her brother had spoken…only to be floored when the baby got a response.

"Okay…" A voice croaked. "Okay, I'm up…"

The turtle girl turned her attention to the voice. It wasn't familiar, but was at the same time. As her eyes fell on her father's face, she saw the older turtle's eyes open.

Vincent, leaning away from the strange voice, had a confused expression on his face. As if he was trying to match the voice to the face.

But after a moment, the baby started giggling and leaned forward to wrap his hands around Leo's face.

Both Claire and Leo reacted, the girl trying to bring the baby away from the water, and Leo's hands scooping up the child. "Ok…let's not drown today."

Vincent chuckled, as if he thought it was a game, and nuzzled his father's face.

Claire, unsure of what to do, relinquished control of her brother to her father and rested her head on the tub, only to feel a soft hand on her.

"I told you I'd come for you, oujo…" Leo's voice croaked. "Although, this was not the way I planned it…"

The turtle girl joined in the chuckling, tears filling her eyes.

At that moment, the bathroom door opened and Raph stepped in. Claire's head, as if pulled by a string, whipped around to see who was coming in.

The red masked turtle stopped short in the doorway, blinking at the sight.

"Hey, Raph…" Leo croaked.

Raph seemed to be frozen in place, his hands becoming slack around the towel, as if he was about to drop it…or fall to his knees. It took several long moments for him to compose himself enough to run to the stairwell and screaming. "GUYS! GUYS! GET UP HERE!"

It didn't take long for Donnie, Mikey, and Bernadette to run into the house and up the stairs. At first, the two looked scared…as if something bad had happened…

Only to find Leo seated up in the water of the tub, baby turtle in arm, and smiled at his brothers.

"Leo?" Donnie asked, voice suggesting that he was stunned.

"Hey, guys."

Mikey made a mad rush for Leo, wrapping his arms around his brother, barely missing the baby turtle.

After a moment, the turtle brothers gently helped their wounded oldest brother out of the tub, while their sister guided Claire and Vincent downstairs.

* * *

Donnie sat Leo on the couch and proceeded to check his vitals.

However, there was one tiny problem.

Claire had wedged herself between her father's legs, and Vincent was seated on Leo's left leg.

While Donnie could work around Vincent, he had a difficult time doing the same with Claire.

"Claire, sweetie, I need you to move. I can't check your dad's vitals if you are seated on the floor in front of him." Donnie said, gently.

"You can lean over me." Claire sassed, crossing her arms.

Raph smiled with pride. "That's my niece."

Leo turned to look at his brother. "So. I sleep for three months and you teach her sass? Thanks a lot, Raph." The eldest brother said in jest.

"Hey, she spent time with me. She learned from the best, right, Claire-bear?" Raph replied, winking at his niece.

"Yeah." Claire responded, still not moving. "But Lizzie's sassier than I am."

"Darn right I am!" Elizabeth piped up from behind her father.

Rolling his brown eyes, Donnie proceeded with checking Leo's vitals over the children's heads.

"Why does he sound different?" Casey piped from the corner, voicing the question that everyone in the room wanted to know.

Donnie's eyes saddened as he looked his brother over. Yes, Leo looked a lot better than he had three months ago…but he could still see the marks of the Shredder. "He sustained severe damage to his throat…and pretty much everywhere else."

Claire gently leaned against her father's left knee and Vincent curled tighter against his father's plastron. Even though Vincent was still an infant, he could read Donnie's facial expression, and knew that something wasn't right.

The gestures were kind enough, but pain roiled up in Leo, causing him to wince and flinch slightly, his right arm curled around his stomach.

Donnie, ever paying attention, noticed the reaction and pulled out a bottle. The contents were a light green and glowed slightly. "Here, have some of my patented Mutagen medicine. You'll feel better in no time!" The genius of the brothers pulled out a spoon and poured some of the contents into it.

Leo leaned forward to accept some of the medicine, trusting that Donnie knew what he was doing.

Only Raph noticed the flinch and cower that happened to Vincent and Claire as they saw the glowing medicine. Although he himself was unsure of the mutagen aspect, he knew Donnie wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt Leo.

"Belch…That tastes like it supposed to come out of me…not go in…" Leo said after swallowing the medication, moving his tongue on his teeth, as if to clean it from the taste.

"Don't you worry, Leo." Raph said leaning over and lightly punching his brother in the arm. "Tomorrow, we'll get right to training. We'll have you better in no time."

* * *

The next day was…difficult, to say the least.

Even though Leo was awake and everyone was ecstatic…the leader in blue's slow progress was difficult to watch. He hobbled around and couldn't carry Vincent for very long before growing tired. Donnie, with Sebastian's help, fashioned a crutch for Leo, with the nod that it was only temporary…

But it was still difficult, none the less.

The day moved by slowly, only becoming worrisome when Leo returned from training with Raph, leaning heavily on his brother, saying that he really wasn't feeling well. Donnie rushed to his brother's side and tried to find out what had gone wrong.

Mikey sequestered the children at that time. He knew that his brothers wouldn't want the kids around should something go wrong. He sent the seven year olds out to play in the chicken coop, with strict instructions to not come back into the house until he called for them.

As for the infants, he sat them in the chairs that Donnie and son had built and entertained them with a funny skit performed by himself and ice cream kitty.

Bernadette assisted Donnie best she could in figuring out what had happened to Leo.

The conclusion was relieving.

Leo just needed to rest and take it easy. The dizzy spell had come from him trying to move too quickly and from dehydration.

With strict instructions to drink more water, Donnie released Leo from his care.

Dinner came and went, and everyone gathered in front of the television for some Crognard the Barbarian. The first episode was good, and on the commercial break between it and the next one, Donnie and Raph brought up three of the yawning babies, knowing that it was bed time for them.

Vincent refused to leave his father, no matter how tired he was.

So, Leo was forced to climb the stairs, carefully, with the sleepy Vincent curled in his arm, and couldn't leave until the baby was lulled to sleep by a Japanese lullaby.

By the time they returned downstairs, the show was about to start…and the power went out.

"Aw!" Claire and Cyprian whined as the TV went off.

"Guess it must be a sign," Raph said, looking at one of the clocks on the wall. It was about 9:30. "Must be time for little turtles to head to bed."

Sebastian, Claire, and Cyprian all looked at their uncle. "No…" They whined.

Donnie and Bernadette piped up. "He does have a point." "It is 9:30."

But it was Leo's contribution that stuck a pin in it. "But Crognard will be on in the morning. If you guys are too tired, you won't be able to watch it then."

The three children sighed. Knowing they couldn't fight Leo.

But Liz did try. Crossing her arms, she curled tighter in on herself, refusing to budge. "No."

Mikey leaned over towards Leo. "Sir, reporting high levels of sass."

No one could contain their laughter after that, not even Liz.

Convincing the children to head upstairs, Donnie and Raph headed out of the house, one to address the breaker box, the other to get firewood.

* * *

Liz did do her best to fall asleep on her own. She really did.

But she just couldn't.

Too many thoughts swirled in her mind, keeping her up long past midnight. The most bothersome thought being "where's father?"

Ever since Raph and the others came to the farmhouse, Raph made it a point to come see his daughter and son and tuck them in. And in the course of three months, this was the first time that he hadn't done so.

And the break from the pattern kept poor Liz up, worried that something had happened to her father.

She didn't like those woods. Not at all…

Finally, getting fed up with not being able to sleep, she crawled out of bed and headed down stairs. Maybe Raph was down there…maybe he had forgotten?

The house was silent as she made her way down stairs, as if it was only inhabited by the sleeping. And Liz wished that she could join them.

As she made her way to the kitchen, the front door opened. It was loud, but sounded as if whoever was coming in wanted to be as quiet as possible. Poking her head out into the living room, she looked for who had come in, only to see a familiar shape of…Casey Jones.

Pouting slightly, she turned her attention to making a small snack, but curiosity stayed her hand. What on Earth was Casey doing in full battle rattle? In the middle of the night? Out here in the woods?

After a moment, she peeked back out into the other room, just as Casey was heading up the stairs. "What's going on?" She asked, her voice tired.

Casey jumped slightly, obviously not expecting to hear someone. He turned quickly to come eye to eye with Liz. "Geez, Liz. Almost gave me a heart attack. Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Couldn't sleep…" She muttered, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Ah…Nothing to worry about. Come on, let's get you to bed."

She didn't follow. "Where's daddy?"

Casey paused before replying. "He's in the barn with Donnie. Something came up."

A pout crossed the turtle's face. "So important he couldn't say goodnight?"

If Liz had been much older, Casey would have found that question laughable. But, considering all that Raph had told him Liz and the other clones had been through…It wasn't too shocking or laughable. In fact, it was kind of sad.

"Can I go see him? I just want to say goodnight…and then I'll go right to bed. Promise." Liz begged, big, green, watery, puppy eyes out.

Casey did his best to resist. His absolute best. He knew that Raph would kill him…he knew that Donnie might kill him!

But, eventually, he caved.

Not even he, Casey Jones, could resist puppy eyes from Raph's daughter.

"Alright. Come on."

* * *

As Casey led Liz to the barn, he tried to explain that Raph…wasn't in his usual state.

"Hey, Liz. There's something I need to tell you before we go in there."

Liz turned her tired attention to him.

"Raph…um…something happened to his appearance, so he looked very different…but don't worry. It's only temporary and Donnie's working to fix it right as we speak."

The tired turtle nodded, maybe not fully comprehending. "Okay."

"Good." Casey replied, with his cave of a grin, before opening the door and letting them inside.

April was the first to see him. "Are the—" She stopped short when Liz came into view, her eyes widening and then narrowing at Casey. And if looks could kill…well you get the picture. She didn't say anything aloud, but Casey knew he was going to get an earful later.

"She can't sleep. What was I supposed to do?" He asked, a frown plastered on his face.

The human girl rolled her eyes and tried to block Liz from getting a good view of Raph. Donnie had stepped out for a moment with Leo-who wanted to be useful, working to get more mutagen from the Creep. Mikey, who didn't want to leave Raph alone, stayed by his brother's side.

Liz came forward, looking at the odd, green, grassy thing on the table behind April. Something that Liz needed to see.

"Where's daddy?"

The question startled Mikey in particular, who hadn't noticed the girl's arrival. He blinked and looked up. "Liz? Whatcha doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep." She replied, seriousness entering her voice as she took several more steps forward, the green thing becoming clearer in view. "Where's daddy? What's that thing?"

Before anyone could stop him, Mikey piped up. "That's Raph."

Both Casey and April turned towards Mikey, flames in their eyes.

But Mikey was only looking at Raph's prone, mutated form. Distraught and tired, the orange mask turtle looked much older and not nearly like himself. The night had worn him out, and he was in no mood to sugar coat things.

Liz turned on Casey, flames also in her eyes. "YOU TOLD ME IT WAS ONLY APPEARANCE!" She screamed, nearly knocking the human over.

"B-but it is!" Casey protested, reaching for Liz, trying to hold her back.

But the ninja in training moved just out of his reach and made her way to her father's side. "T-This isn't just appearance!" Liz said, looking mournfully at the prone form on the table. "T-this is mutagen…"

It took a moment for it to sink into Liz's mind…

"Y-You…YOU MUTATED MY FATHER?!" The toughest of all the clones screamed, tears starting to fill her eyes as she flung herself on the grassy form. "You mutated him… You mutated him…"

The scream left both humans stunned. Casey, because it was a scream.

But with April, there was something else.

She remembered those exact words coming out of her own mouth. She could see the day clearly in her mind. Her father, a bat for a time, in a cage that the boys had set up to keep him safe.

Only to inform her that the reason why he was mutated was because of the canisters of mutagen that they had (accidentally) let fall from the Kraang ship.

But this was different, right? April had had a good reason to be angry, right?

But as she thought about it…she realized that yes and no were both the answer. Yes, she was justified in being angry…but banishing those that could help her father? Ordering them to stay away? Not letting them help when they very much could?

And resenting them, especially Donnie, for everything that happened? Blaming him to no end and refusing to hear him out? Hurting him day after day because she was hurting day after day?

As the human girl looked at the turtle girl sobbing over her plant mutated father…April saw herself…but this was worse.

At least her father had been able to respond and interact with her.

Raph, in his current state, couldn't move.

It was a wake up call…but one that she would need to spend more time, and maybe meditate, on.

At that moment, Donnie and Leo made their way back into the barn, carrying a large container of ooze and a long tube, like an IV line.

"Here we g—" Donnie started off, before seeing Liz. He opened his mouth, as if to say something…but shortly after closed his mouth. Making his way over to Liz, he set a hand on the girl's carapace and rubbed gently.

Liz looked up, sharply. Her eyes were angry and sad, but mostly sad.

The purple masked turtle smiled at her. "It's going to be ok, hun. There was a creep out in the woods that drained the mutagen from Raph's body." He hefted the IV in his hand. "I'm going to put this in him and it should clear this up like a bad infection."

"Should?" Liz said, eyes narrowing. "Why not will?"

"Because…it's mutagen…and there is a slight, very slight possibility that something cou—"

"Then No! You're not. Not until you are 100% sure that nothing bad will happen!" She stood between Donnie and Raph, blocking the tallest mutant from getting to his leafy brother.

"But I don't have that kind of time, Liz!" Donnie replied, desperation filling his voice. "I don't know how much time your dad can be separated from the mutagen…and it's been over an hour. You're gonna have to trust me. He will be okay."

Liz refused to budge.

"Elizabeth, the only reason why I'm not 100% sure that it'll work is because science always has a 1% chance of not working. That's 9.9999 times out of 10 that this could work. That's fantastic odds! I'm just doing the reverse of what happened to him. The only bad that I can see happening is that he has a leafy mustache from now on."

Liz's face struggled against a laugh as the picture of Raph with a mustache entered her mind.

"Ok…will you let me do this?"

All was silent in the barn for a long moment…and finally, Liz stood aside and let Donnie work.

* * *

**A/N: We do not own the reference from Inside Out by Pixar and Disney. **

**Also, Vincent did not Leo up completely. He saw that his father was waking and pushed the process along. **

**Also, Vincent IS the runt of the group. There is a reason for this, and we plan to explain that later!**

**Please leave a review! Hope you enjoyed it!**

**~R&amp;R**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: Welcome back! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 17

Gabriel was unsure being on the ground in this big place… granted he had been in someone's arms pretty regularly since he arrived, or on some piece of furniture.

He was fine while secure in the arms of his father, sister, aunt, or uncles.

But right now, he wasn't with any of them. He was on his own, free to crawl aimlessly around the house.

He had crawled around, eyes big and taking in the big place, looking for familiar faces, and soon found himself in front of little platforms made of hard, cold material like the floor under his hands. Each one was about the same size and each one going a little higher than the one before it.

These things, which any child older than Gabe would have called stairs, seemed like the perfect place to play…

But it was not to last.

As soon as he was standing with a hand on the stairs, he was snatched up by his Uncle Mikey.

"Where do you think you are going, rascal?" Mikey asked, lightly tickling the infant's plastron, smiling at the giggling that ensued. "Those aren't for you, silly! You could fall, and I don't want your daddy getting mad at me for letting his little boy fall. Here," Mikey compromised, taking the baby into the living room and sitting him down on the floor by the couch. "You can play out here."

The older turtle smiled as Gabe began to interest himself with the room. "Now, be good, ok? I've gotta go find Lucy, it's getting way too quiet and I know that that's not a good sign…" The orange masked turtle said as he sprinted to the places his daughter would frequent.

The green eyed infant then spotted something that excited him. It was like the hard platforms, but there was only one instead of many. It also had an opening that looked like it was large enough for his big sister.

Gabe thought that this would be his playground, because the inclining platforms were off limits.

So, he crawled his way over to this strange thing. It wasn't made of the same material as the floor, but it was more colorful, and colder.

He climbed up onto the sole platform and all the way to the back of the opening. Then he placed his hands on the back wall of what would be called the fireplace and stood up, his hands not leaving the wall.

"Gabriel…what are ya doing, buddy?" A familiar voice asked.

Uh oh…busted.

Raph and Bea watched in confusion as the tiny turtle used the wall to stand up inside the fireplace.

The baby only turned to acknowledge his father before turning back to look up the chimney.

Now…Gabriel had a nasty habit of slapping everything…and the fireplace wall was no exception. So, as a result of this habit, the small baby slapped the wall high above his head several times.

It was okay at first, nothing happened. But after the fifth or sixth slap, there was a _poof_ and about three pounds of soot fell on top of the baby, covering him head to toe, as if a bag of black flour had exploded on him.

"Uhm…April?" Bea called out. "I think we need to clean this place up…"

"Why do you say that?" April asked, walking into the living room.

"Two words: Look. At. Gabriel." Raph replied.

"That's three words, Raph, and what's wrong with…oh." April nodded, understandingly, as her eyes fell on the baby, who looked ready to burst into tears because of the strange, scratchy black that wouldn't come off.

"Well," April concluded after she got over the initial shock. "You're not wrong about the cleaning. C'mon, let's get the others. They should help, especially Leo."

Bea and April left to grab the others while Raph gently picked up his son and held him for a while, bouncing him lightly. "No tears, buddy. You're okay. Let's go get you a bath, that'll get rid of this stuff."

As Raph headed up the stairs, he had to hold down Gabe's hands, preventing the baby from putting them in his mouth. "Don't put your fingers in your mouth, bud. It'll only make it worse."

When they arrived in the bathroom, Raph turned the water on for the tub to a comfortable warm and after a few moments, placed the baby in the water.

"After we're done getting you all clean, I'll get right to cleaning the fireplace so you can play in it. How does that sound?"

The little baby giggled as his father rubbed his plastron, the soot floating away from the child within moments.

Raph laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."

With that, the turtle in red gently cleaned the soot off of his son, making sure to clean out all the little grooves and divots in the baby's shell and plastron.

After the baby practically shined from being so clean, Raph took Gabe out of the tub, dried him off and carried him to the living room where everyone had somehow convened for a huge argument.

It was an all-out ruckus in the living room. From what Raph could see, the argument was composed of three different situations. One hand, Mikey was whining about why Leo wasn't able to polish the floor and clean the stairs, while April was pointing out to him that Leo couldn't because of his knee.

On the other side, poor Leo was tripping over his words as each of his niece and nephews kept tugging at him, wondering what they were going to do. All the while, he was trying to butt into Mikey's conversation, hoping to defend himself without April's help.

Donnie stood well out of the way of the arguments, looking rather smug.

And lastly, Casey and Bea had gotten into _another_ argument because Casey had _again_ called Bea a "bae", much to Bernadette's chagrin. She was in his face, saying that she had told him several times to stop, while Casey just looked happy to get on her nerves.

So, the turtle in red just stood there, holding his infant son, while they both watched the chaos unfold.

That is until Gabriel breathed in some of the soot that had gotten caught in his nose, causing the baby to sniffle and let loose a loud sneeze.

Everyone, including Raphael, jumped at the sudden sound and looked at the infant and said a collective, "Bless you."

With the sudden calm, Leo stood a bit taller and took control of the situation. "Okay everyone, we need to talk about this together, not chaotically. So," He asked, sitting down on the loveseat, "Who's doing what with this cleaning?"

* * *

Once the chaos had stopped, it didn't take too long for the group to figure out what everyone was doing, and what they were going to do with the infants while they were cleaning.

Leo would vacuum the floors and clean the indoor side of the windows, with Vincent strapped to his chest in a baby carrier that that Donnie and Sebastian made specifically for any of the baby turtles.

Raph would clean the fireplace, while Gabriel was within his line of sight on the couch.

Mikey would dust. Donnie would mop the floors (much to Vincent's laughter).

April and Bea would clean the bathrooms.

Sebastian had built a type of scaffolding that resembled a porch swing and had a pulley attached to it so that he could move it up and down. To this swing, he could attach two baby swings – which he also made – so that his baby sister and Lucy could swing while he and Cyprian cleaned the outer part of the windows.

It had recently been discovered that Gianna and Lucy would kick their legs when pushed on the swings. So, Cyprian and Sebastian, deciding to capitalize on this, strapped sponges to the feet of their sisters and Sebastian pushed them on the swings, having them scrub the windows, while Cyprian kept the sponges wet.

Liz and Claire were responsible the wood floors in little rooms, so they wouldn't have to worry about walking on the floors that were being polished, or having the babies crawl in and get polish all over their hands, and most likely in their mouths.

Casey…well, he just said he was going to help in the bathrooms – which meant he was going to stare at April and Bea, mostly April – instead of helping.

There was a collective "Hiyah" as the eight turtles and two humans – babies in the arms of their siblings or fathers – rushed off to clean.

* * *

Raph carried his son into the living room, sat him down on the couch, and – feather dusters in hand – raced up the chimney.

He clung to the walls of the chimney, doing his best to get the soot off of the walls. Granted, in the dim light, he could tell that there was way too much soot on this. It would need more than a feather duster to clean it. Before he knew it, he was covered in the black soot. Giving up on getting all of the soot, he dropped out of the chimney. He would just have to make sure that Gabe didn't smack the walls anymore.

Meanwhile, Gabriel distracted himself with the interesting square of cloth and stuffing next to him. He happened to punch it because he was bored, but when it accepted the blow with an interesting sound. Wondering if it would do it again, he punched at the pillow once more. Laughing when it repeated the sound, he did it again and again…at least until he punched at it too hard, sending it flying off of the couch.

Gabriel stared at where the pillow had fallen. For a moment, he looked shocked that the pillow had left him…and then began to pout.

Raph watched the scene unfold, wiping his face with a clean rag, and decided to play a little game with his son, to distract him from the loss of the pillow.

"Gabriel…" Raph said, getting the child's attention, standing taller, so his head hid inside the fireplace. "Where's Gabe?"

The baby looked around, wondering what his dad was talking about…wasn't he right here?

"There he is!" Raph exclaimed happily as he lowered himself off of his toes and peaked through the fire place.

Gabriel laughed, putting a hand to his face, trying to hide once more.

Raph wiped his hands and plastron clean, or at least the best he could considering the soot, and snatched up his son, going to find his brothers, to ask them to watch Gabriel while he got cleaned up.

He found Leo vacuuming, baby Vincent now curled into his shell away from the loud sound.

Donnie was busy mopping the floor still, looking slightly dejected. Raph didn't ask, thinking it most likely had to do with April.

Mikey was very into his dusting, dancing around as he cleaned every object he touched to the point of sparkling.

Deciding that asking his brothers to watch Gabe wasn't going to happen, Raph turned his attention to the bathroom.

Met by cackling laughter, Raph rolled his eyes at the two girls standing by the wall and the hockey jock in the tub.

"Ha, ha, real funny, guys. Now, can you girls go clean something else for a bit, and Casey, get out the bathroom and babysit Gabe while I get cleaned up." Raph said, demanding that Casey do what he said, while being polite with the girls.

Either way, it was rather interesting hearing Raph bark out commands. Usually that was Leo's job.

"What?" Casey exclaimed in protest. "Why do I get to babysit? Get April to do it!"

"Not a chance, hotshot." Raph replied as the girls snickered. "They're actually cleaning, you're just sitting in the tub, staring at April—"

"Raphael…" Bernadette said in warning tones, having an idea of where that statement was likely going. "No crude language. Your son's in the room, if you haven't noticed."

"I was just going to say he was staring at _April,_ sis." Raph shot back in his defense.

"Yeah, right." Bernadette scoffed sarcastically as she picked up her bucket and headed out of the bathroom, April hot on her heels.

"The order still stands, Jones." Raph reinforced, holding Gabe out to the hockey player.

"Hmph, fine, fine, whatever. Give me the kid." Casey said, defeated.

With Gabe safely in the other male's arms, Raph scooted the two out of the bathroom and shut the door.

Casey looked at the baby in his arms, whose green eyes looked begrudgingly up at him. Sighing, he headed down the stairs and sat on the couch.

Gabriel, who had gotten bored with Casey rather quickly, started slapping the human's chest, surprised to hear a different sound then when he hit his father's chest.

"OW! OW! Geez!" Casey said, reaching one hand up to hold the baby's hands down. "You're worse than Raph when he's mad!"

Not long after he was able to convince Gabriel to not hit him, two seven-year-old turtles came running in, two baby girls in hand.

"HeyUncleCasey!CouldyouwatchGiannaandLucyforus?Wereallyappreciateit,thanks!" Cyprian asked in one breath as he and Sebastian carefully gave their smiley baby sisters to Casey.

"Hey! Hey! What, now?" Casey asked in confusion. "Why me?"

"We're got to help Uncle Leo with vacuuming, the cord keeps getting in his way and one of us has to hold Vincent." Sebastian informed the hockey player as he and his white masked cousin were exiting the room. "So you get to look after Gia and Lucy! _Sayonara!"_

"Ugh! More Babysitting?" Casey exclaimed in exasperation. This was going to be a long half hour or so…

* * *

It had been about twenty minutes and Casey was already starting to get mad.

When he'd first been given the girls, he decided to hold Gianna and Lucy in his arms and sit Gabriel in his lap.

And it would have worked out perfectly…if the babies hadn't had a fondness for messing with him…

Gabe had returned to slapping Casey's chest repeatedly.

Lucy was dead set on pulling his black, shiny hair.

And Gianna had a fondness for poking his nose.

So, the array of noises that went on like this: Slap, OW, yank, bonk. Slap, OW, yank, bonk. Slap, OW, yank, bonk.

And this went on for a good twenty minutes…

Then Casey finally blew a gasket.

"WILL YOU JUST STOP!" He screamed at the children in his lap.

The three infants suddenly stopped, frozen in place, their facial expressions devolving from glee and fun to terror.

Lucy was the first to lose it, tears welling up in her eyes quickly before she began to cry, very loudly.

Gianna soon joined in, starting to pull away from Casey.

Gabriel was the last to break from the frozen state, only to start hitting Casey with more vigor, as if trying to actually do physical damage. (Which he wasn't that far off from doing.)

"Oh, come on…" Casey groaned in frustration, trying to soothe the infants, who were having none of that.

"What is going on in here?!" Leo bellowed, with eerie likeness to Splinter's same exclamation, as he hobbled into the living room on his crutch.

The teen turtle wasn't alone, though. His daughter and niece accompanied him.

Quickly, the two older girls ran over to their human uncle. Claire, in a surprising feat of dexterity, snatched both Lucy and Gianna from Casey's grasp and started bouncing them as she backed away. Liz managed to wrestle her brother away from the human. It took several moments before the little boy figured out that his sister was the one holding him and calmed down a bit. He pointed a small finger at Casey and started talking in garbled baby speak.

Liz nodded as she "listened", rubbing the baby's carapace, soothingly, as if understanding what her brother was talking about.

"Casey, you bonehead," Donnie shouted, as he entered the room and carefully took Gianna from Claire's arm, bouncing the baby, hoping to stop her constant, high-pitched cries. "What did you do?!"

"I-I didn't mean to make them cry." Casey said in his own defense, looking ready to cry himself, rubbing the place on his chest he was sure would have a bruise. "I just wanted them to stop their poking and hitting and yanking and stuff."

At that moment, Cyprian and Sebastian walked in, both looking rather threatening with their second eyelids covering their eyes.

"Just the same, Casey," Cyprian yelled, furious. "Luce-Luce never cries, not even if she's hungry!" The boy blinked, his expression softening as he took note of the human rubbing his chest.

"Yeah! Gia only gets frustrated and cries when she can't verbalize things…but…" Sebastian said, the anger wearing off as his second eyelids retracting. "It was your first time babysitting, so I guess we can forgive you, right, Rian?" The gap-toothed seven-year-old asked, turning to his cousin and then to his father. "Right, dad?"

Donatello sighed, calming down as Gianna put his finger in her mouth. "Alright, Jones." He said begrudgingly. "You're forgiven, but next time, please don't yell at her, or Lucy, okay?"

"I'll try, Beanpole, I'll try." Casey replied in jest, with a sly smirk on his face.

"You'd better, Cavemouth." Donnie bantered back, still holding his daughter, who had calmed down to sniffles.

"Now that we got that straightened out," Mikey interjected. "Donnie and I need to get these girls' cheeks dried and get both of them some yummy cookies!" He tickled Lucy lightly. "Am I right?"

The baby girl giggled.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. C'mon, Don. We've got little girls to deal with! Afterwards, we can finish cleaning, right?"

There was a collective "yes" as the purple and orange masked ninjas headed to the kitchen to get those cookies.

* * *

**A/N: Good daddy moments...and Casey failing at babysitting. Maybe he'll get the hang of it later? In his defense, he really didn't want to make them cry.**

**AND THIS NEW EPISODE! No spoilers, but Leo is the only knight worthy of the Queen! (*cough*totesshipleorai*cough*)**

**Please leave a review! It's right down below! thanks!**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for being so patient with us!**

**Behold the next chapter! It starts off where the last one ended. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 18

Afterwards, the two baby girls were smiling once more, with left over cookie crumbs covering their fathers. It didn't take much longer before both of them were yawning from the excitement of the day, eyelids drooping. That's when Donnie spoke up.

"I think these two and our little nephews have had enough cleaning fun for today, don't you think?"

"Ain't that the truth." Raph responded to the rhetorical question, coming into the kitchen, followed by Leo, who was looking very manly with Vincent strapped to him in the home-made baby carrier.

Both usually feisty infant boys were now yawning, struggling to keep their heads up and eyes open.

"C'mon, guys, let's put them under that new basking lamp that Donnie and Sebastian made. They seem pretty bushed." Leo continued, leading the way as the four left the kitchen, babies in hand.

While searching through the house months before, they had found an old crib that was big enough for the four to sleep in. At first, the babies didn't really want anything to do with it…until the new basking lamp was attached to it.

And the four of them slept rather soundly, much to their father's relief.

* * *

There was something strange with this rug.

Mikey wasn't sure what it could be, but tripping over a corner had pulled some of it up, and the wood underneath looked different. Not just in color from being out of the sunlight, but the texture as well, as if it had been made to be purposely stronger than the rest of the floor.

So, when he revealed a trap door, he wasn't too surprised.

But April was. "I didn't know we had a basement."

"What do you suppose is down there?" Leo asked.

Mikey thought for a moment… "EVIL CLOWN!" he yelled, cowering behind Raph. "EVIL CLOWN!"

Raph smirked and pulled out his sais, "Only one way to find out." And with a yank, he pulled the door open with the weapons.

The way down was dark, the steps creaked as Leo led the ninjas and two humans down them.

At first, it looked like any other cellar, dark, dusty and a few things scattered about…until Leo's flashlight landed on a shimmery object.

The Kraang!

Well, the ship anyway.

After convincing the others that there was no danger, and figuring out how to open the door to it, Donnie led the way into the ship.

* * *

Upstairs, Vincent, under the glow of the basking lamp, starting to squirm, causing his cousins to get poked in the plastron or face.

* * *

"I repeat. Don't. Touch. Anything."

Mikey backed into the consul, his hand met with something, setting the system off.

"MIKEY!" Donnie yelled, turning to look at his brother.

"Heh… I promise not to touch anything, starting now?"

"Look!" Casey redirected their attention to the person inside the tube.

* * *

Soon, it wasn't just squirming, but whimpering as well coming from the baby turtle.

* * *

"Mom?"

A woman stumbled out of the apparatus that kept her housed, nearly falling. Raph and Donnie were there to catch her.

"Easy, ma'am. Watch your step."

"AH! MUTANTS!"

* * *

Suddenly, Vincent let out a fierce cry, waking his cousins, who moved towards him, as if to protect him.

* * *

"Easy, Mrs. O'Neil. They're nice…well except Donnie, he's kind of a jerk."

"Wel—Hey!"

"H-how do you know my name?"

"Mom…"

"A-April..?"

Before anyone knew what was happening, both females passed out.

And a cry could be heard from above.

"Leo, that's yours." Raph said, seriously.

Said turtle lifted an eyebrow. "How could you tell?"

"Because I had to sit with him for three months. I know what his cry sounds like."

"Ah." Leo said, before turning to the other. "Get them upstairs and comfortable. I'll make some tea for them. Mikey do you mind getting damp cloths for their foreheads? It might help."

Mikey nodded and the eldest hobbled out of the cellar and upstairs.

* * *

It didn't take very long for April and Mrs. O'Neil to wake from their faint, and the four turtles and Casey were there to greet them.

As well as a rather unhappy Vincent, of whom Leo was doing his best to calm down. Bouncing the infant wasn't doing anything, and tickling was met by Vincent's hands pushing him away. No matter what he did, the baby seemed to be having none of that, and the leader in blue was forced to retreat to the kitchen.

Setting the baby on the counter top, Leo reached into the freezer and was handed a pair of frozen grapes. _Maybe he's teeth are bothering him?_ The blue masked turtle thought, even though he wasn't quite sure.

While the baby was crying, he popped the frozen fruit into the his mouth. For a moment, the crying stopped...but something weirder started.

As the baby sucked on the grape, his hands came to his head and started scratching at his ears. And it wasn't light scratching. No, Vincent looked like he was trying to hurt himself.

And that scared Leo. Reaching up, Leo grabbed he baby's hands and tried to pull them away from his face. "No, no. Don't do that, Vincent." He said, gently, trying his best to sooth his son while also holding down his hands.

With the cold fruit in his mouth, crying was muffled, so he began to whimper and look around, as if scared that the boogey man was going to pop out of nowhere and scare him.

At that moment, Donnie walked into the kitchen with a tray of dirty cups and tea pot. "How's he, Leo?"

"Not doing so well. I got the crying to stop, but he's not calming down." Leo said, slight panic in his voice. "I don't know what's going on, but he started scratching at his ears. And it looked like he was trying to hurt himself."

Donnie lifted an eyebrow, placed the tray on the counter top before coming over to the baby and examining his ears. There were red, irritated lines on the side of the baby's head that corroborated with Leo's story. "Hm…" He said to himself. "That's odd. What do you think started it?"

"I'm not sure." Leo replied, rubbing his thumbs over the boy's hands, trying to keep him still. "He wasn't like this when I put him down to sleep and I've never seen him act this way before."

"And all of this started after we went down to the basement, right?"

Leo nodded.

Donnie thought for a moment. "Could it have something to do with the…ship?" He asked, being careful to omit that it was Kraang made.

The eldest brother bit the inside of his mouth as he thought. "Maybe. But why would he react to that? He didn't see it."

Donnie rubbed his head. There were many things he didn't understand about the babies. Gianna had her incredible genius, Gabriel had his strength, and Vincent had this…whatever this was.

Lucy was looking to be the most normal of the group!

_I may need to run some experiments when the dust clears…_ He thought to himself as he headed to the oven. In a drawer by it, he found a set of smallish oven mitts and brought them to Leo. "I know this may seem odd, but since you can't hold his hands all day long, we'll need to put these on his hands, maybe it'll deter him from scratching."

Leo nodded, shifting his hands on Vincent so that his hands were exposed, but his arms couldn't lift them to his head. Donnie moved quickly and slipped the smallish mitts over the child's hands and pulled away. Leo did the same…only to watch Vincent shake his hands, and send the mitts flying.

"Whelp, that didn't work."

The eldest turtle's hands flew to his son, catching the baby's hands before they could get to his ears. "No, no, Vincent." He said gently, going back to rubbing the child's arms.

Donnie picked the mitts back up and thought for a moment. "I'll be right back." He said, briefly, before leaving the kitchen.

Leo turned his attention to trying to sooth the irritated Vincent once more. "What's wrong, Vincent?" He asked making a silly face. "Is daddy not silly enough?"

Vincent didn't verbally reply, his face twisting into a sad expression, like he was going to cry.

"Daddy's here. You don't have to worry anymore." He continued to say, rubbing he child's arms. "Daddy's going to make it all better."

It didn't take long before Donnie returned with some string. "Okay, let's try this again."

The leader in blue nodded and they began the process again, but this time Donnie tied the string about half an inch from the bottom of the oven mitts, a little tight, but enough so that the little boy wouldn't be able to throw the mitts off.

Stepping back to see if it would work, Vincent immediately started shaking his hands, and the mitts didn't go flying.

The two elder turtles tapped fists. "Great job, Donnie."

Vincent didn't look so happy to have something cover his hands, but when Leo picked him up and held the baby to his shoulder, he calmed a bit. "See, I told you," Leo said gently to the baby. "Daddy's not going to let bad things happen to you, Vincent."

* * *

Mikey looked at Mrs. O'Neil as she hugged April, a weird feeling bothering him greatly…what was wrong with this scene? Was it bad for April to hug her mom?

What was wrong with this scene?

Or was it just one person?

He looked around, to see if his brother or sister noticed anything wrong. Raph was drinking his tea, his expression saying that nothing looked wrong or uneasy to him.

But Bernadette was fiddling with her mask tails, a nervous habit he had noticed her pick up not very long ago. When she was unsure about something, his sister would fiddle with the long tails of her multicolored mask.

He leaned towards her and whispered close to her ear. "What's wrong, sis?"

Bernadette jumped slightly, as if startled out of deep thoughts. "Oh. Something…just doesn't feel right…"

"I know the feeling. I can't put my finger on it…but something's not right."

"Maybe it has to do with the ship?" Bernadette asked, having been informed of the ship's presence.

"Maybe…but I didn't feel this way while I was in the ship. Not until April's mom woke up."

"Are you sure it's not jealousy?"

Mikey thought about that for a moment. No…he was pretty sure it wasn't jealousy. Why would he be jealous? He had a father…sure he missed him…but he had one. And he also had a mother…regardless of the fact that it was a broken mutagen container…or his master's dead wife, who he sometimes referred to as mom when no one was around.

So, why would he be jealous? He could find no reason.

"Pretty sure it's not on my end. You?"

Bernadette shook her head. "I'm not entirely sure…but I think it may be my danger sense going off."

"Danger sense?"

"My caution about all things Kraang related."

"But she's not Kraang related, why? She's human, right?"

"I'm not sure. You can feel something's wrong, right?"

"I do…maybe we need to keep an eye on Mrs. O'Neil?"

"I agree."

* * *

Mikey and Bernadette watched closely as April and Mrs. O'Neil were sitting on the swing a few paces from the house, putting their ninja skills to use, spying without being sighted.

Their intention was to spy…but Mikey was becoming more and more agitated. The feeling of not rightness was so massive that he felt like he was choking on it.

Until he moved.

"BOOYAHKASHA!"

Although the orange masked turtle was fast, Bernadette somehow managed to snag his arms before he could do anything to hurt Mrs. O'Neil. Wrapping her arms around her brother, she managed to get her hands under his arms and lift him slightly off the ground.

"Mikey!" April yelled. "What the heck?"

"Get away from her! There's something wrong with her!"

The girl looked horrified and angry as she stepped over to turtle being held back. "What's wrong with you!?"

"Something's seriously wrong with her, April." Mikey pleaded. "Please-"

"Stop. Just stop it."

* * *

Before Mikey and Bernadette knew it, they were in the barn, under a harsh light, surrounded by Casey, Leo, Raph, and Donnie. In Raph's arms was Lucy, who looked more intent on wiggling out of her uncle's arms than frightened by the situation. However, the red masked turtle looked very intent on not letting the child go.

Donnie entered Mikey's field of vision. "Michelangelo." He said, his voice deep and…threatening. "You. Attacked. April's. MOTHER!"

As the older turtle screamed, Mikey flinched backwards, but Lucy thought it was great fun. Clapping slightly, she imitated her uncle. "Fothwewater!" is what it sounded like, but it was obviously baby gibberish.

Raph and Casey fought back laughing out loud while Leo and Donnie somehow managed to keep a straight face.

"You guys don't get it!" Bernadette said. "Something is seriously wrong with Mrs. O'Neil. We don't know what it is…but it definitely is not good!"

Raph and Donnie gave each other looks. While they had reason to doubt Mikey's motives, Bernadette –from the time they had spent with her—was level headed enough to not do something without a good reason…right?

"What's your evidence?" Leo asked, looking skeptical.

Bernadette and Mikey looked at each other for a moment before looking at Leo. Then, in perfect unison, they spoke. "Vincent."

Leo lifted an eyebrow. "How so?"

Mikey was starting to get annoyed and jumped to his feet, standing very close to his brother. "You saw how he reacted in her presence!"

Leo didn't budge. "I don't see how that's reason enough to be suspicious. She's a new person. Of course he's going to be uncomfortable with her."

"But scratching his ears?" Bernadette asked. "I've been with him since he was born, Leo. And I've only seen him do that once before, when the…" She stopped, looking at Lucy—who was too busy playing with Raph's pouting lips—before continuing. "K-word were experimenting on him!"

The leader in blue lifted an eyebrow. "We found her in K-word's ship. Maybe she smells like them?"

"That's possible…" Bernadette conceded. "But how come he reacted to us opening the ship when he was all the way upstairs?"

The leader did wonder about that. Maybe they had a point that something wasn't right…but he wasn't ready to concede just yet. "We need more evidence."

"But we do! Just believe us!" Mikey chimed in.

Raph lifted an eyebrow. "Oh her we believe. It's you we are skeptical of, mister 'elves stole my nunchucks and replaced them with mozzarella sticks while I was sleeping'."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Oh for the love of…" he said, backing away from Leo and throwing up his hands before crossing them.

Casey strolled up to Mikey. "Dude. This is April's mom we are talking about. Why can't we just let her be happy?"

"Because something's not right, Casey. And wouldn't you want her to be safe with someone that she loves?"

Casey had no reply for that as Mikey marched passed him, snatched Lucy, and walked out.

Bernadette made a move to follow her brother, but stopped short in front of Leo. "By the way, did you notice how April's mom looked at me or your kids?"

Leo blinked, looking up at Donnie as she walked out. "No…I didn't…"

* * *

**A/N: Annnnnd there you go, folks! Sorry for so many line breaks, it's hard to do rapid scene changes...**

**Please leave a review :)**

**~R&amp;R**


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hi guys! Welcome back! **

**Warning: Sick turtles, CPR mentioned. **

* * *

Chapter 19

Michelangelo sat in front of a bowl, one of his hands holding a can of pressurized whipped cream, leaning over the table, looking rather depressed. Lucy sat on the table, her hands in front of her leg, leaning forward into the bowl, where some melt-y looking ice cream peered back at her.

"No one gets me…" Mikey said, fingers moving in the bowl. "No one by the two of you."

As if cued, the ice cream moved, and the head of a kitty came out of the bowl, making Lucy's eyes grow to be as big as saucers.

"Aw! Kitty!" The ninja said, lifting his head. "I could eat you up!"

Lucy squealed happily as her father put a "hat" of whipped cream on the kitty's head with a cherry on top.

"Can you say 'kitty', Luce-Luce?"

"Mow!" the baby said she reached for the ice cream kitten.

"Close enough." Mikey said, chuckling. "She does say meow."

"M-ow…" Lucy repeated, her voice sounding tired and her arm dropping beside it.

Mikey's smile turned gentle as he watched the baby fight tired eyes. Gently, he picked her up and stood. "Looks like it's someone's bedtime, eh kitty?"

"Meow!" Ice cream kitty said, purring a bit.

"I'll be right back." He said, noticing that Lucy's eyes were now closed and one of her fingers was in her mouth. "Time to put this angel to bed."

When Michelangelo returned to the kitchen, he found Ice Cream kitty hissing at the window. Confused slightly, he moved towards it, noticing that there was someone out there.

Not just someone…

April's Mom!

He looked back at Ice Cream kitty. "What do you think, kitty? Go after her?"

The kitten hissed, amplified by a voice from the doorway.

"Yes," Bernadette said. "But not alone."

* * *

The two turtles followed behind the woman, making sure to keep out of sight, not to give away their position or intention – to find out what was going on with this strange woman. And honestly, it wasn't that hard, which concerned both of them, making them wonder if this was a trap.

Maybe it was trick of the light…but Mikey could have sworn he saw the woman's face change into something…weird. Something he had never seen before. "Sweet mother of mutation…" He whispered to himself, trying not to scream.

The two turtles followed the woman to a small stream, where the woman pulled out a canister…of ooze!

The two swung into action.

Mikey's kusarigama launched out of the brush, wrapping around the canister and pulling it out of the woman's hand. While the woman was in shock, Bernadette let lose an arrow, pinning the woman's shirt to the tree behind her.

The only thing that was not thought through…was the ooze that spilled on the ground.

"You shouldn't have done that, whelps!" The woman screamed.

"Don't flatter us!" Mikey called out.

"That's not what that means, Mikey!" Bernadette replied, nearly smacking herself in the face.

"You really shouldn't have done that, Michelangelo and Bernadette. Now," The woman's hand came out from behind her, revealing scissors that she used to cut her shirt, freeing herself. "You've both made mother very angry!"

"I knew there was something wrong with you!" Bernadette cried out.

"You're with the Kraang!"

"Yes," the woman laughed, her arms and face twisting oddly…and before they knew it, something terrible stood before them…causing both of them to scream.

* * *

Vincent refused to be soothed.

Nothing, not even food or drink, was stopping the baby's sobs and cries.

And it was exhausting Leo, who hadn't been able to put the child down.

So, why he decided to go down to the basement with the child, he wouldn't understand. Maybe it was to show the child that there was no danger, that there were no Kraang around. That daddy was going to keep him safe.

But maybe this wasn't the best.

Particularly when something strange happened to Donnie…scaring both father and son.

Donnie seemed to transform into some multiple armed creature, chasing the two turtles towards the stairs, the baby screaming the entire way.

"Okay, Vincent. I understand now." The older turtle said as he limped towards the stairs as fast as he could, holding the baby as close to him as he could, shielding from the creature. Once they got to the stairs…Leo fell from one of the loose planks. Looking quickly at his screaming son, Leo's eyes went white, lifting him son and tossing him, kind of like a Frisbee, as far from him as he could. The baby skidded to a stop on the top of the ship on a ledge. The baby managed to stop himself and crawled behind a structure, screaming as his father was absorbed by the creature…

* * *

It was Vincent's screams that drew Raph to the basement. To see Leo struggling on the stairs…and Vincent nowhere in sight, still screaming.

_Why wasn't Leo doing anything to stop the baby's scream…?_

_Something definitely wasn't right…_

Raph rushed towards his brother. "Leo! What happened?"

"Mikey was right!" The other turtle said as Raph moved him to a seat. "Mrs. O'Neil is some kind of….creature."

"What!" Raph said, pulling away and pulling out his sai. "Where is it?"

Vincent's screams grew louder and more intense as he cowered into the shadows.

"Here!" Leo said…his voice taking on a different tone…and when Raph turned around, Leo had 6 arms…and looked more Kraang like…

_Aw…sewer apples…_

Raph sliced at the…creature's arm that swung at him and moved as quickly as he could towards Vincent. "Now you see me!" He screamed, throwing up an arm and scooping up Vincent with the other.

And with a poof of purple smoke, the baby and he were gone.

* * *

The next few minutes were a blur as Raph evacuated the house, holding up the rear as he chased Claire, Sebastian (with Gianna in his arms), Cyprian, and Liz (who held Gabe).

Casey thought things looked hilarious, considering that Lucy was holding on tightly to Raph's carapace and practically flying behind him like a cape, squealing in joy. In sharp contrast, Vincent was screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Raph, dude. What's up with the babies?" the hockey player asked, chuckling.

"Yeah." April added. "Don't Leo and Mikey usually put the babies to bed?"

The red masked turtle scowled dangerously, before turning to the seven year olds and handing off the other two babies. "Go hide in the chicken coop and _do not come out until I, me and no one else, comes to get you._"

The four blinked, but did as they were told. Once they were out of sight, Raph turned back to Casey and April. "Mikey was right…Mrs. O'Neil is some kind of creature!"

* * *

Claire wasn't quite sure what was going on…but considering her brother's behavior…it wasn't good.

Vincent was in a full panic in her arms. His gloved hands scratching ferociously at his ears and his wails becoming shouts of pure terror. It was so painful to listen to, that she finally just stuck one of her fingers in his mouth to attempt to shut him up.

However, that only helped in calming his shouts. It did nothing for the scratching or the tears streaming from his eyes.

Lucy wiggled her way out of Cyprian's hands and climbed onto her smallest cousin's lap, a behavior she had done back when they had been prisoners of the Kraang. The physical contact seemed to help, but only a little.

Gianna, seeing what Lucy was up to, wiggled out of her brother's lap and nuzzled against her cousin's side. It didn't take long for Gabriel to join them.

With his three small cousins surrounding him and his sister, Vincent's shouts finally diminished, much to Cyprian, Sebastian, and Liz's relief.

* * *

"No! We fry it!" Casey exclaimed as the idea flashed into his brain. "GOONGALA!" He screamed as he skidded underneath the Mom-Thing to the electric box.

"Over here!"

The thing turned to see Casey before charging, slamming into the electric box as the hockey boy moved out of the way and screaming as the electricity zapped it.

* * *

Vincent's hands scratched ferociously as a scream tore through the air…followed by silence…

But only for a moment, then the baby started crying again.

* * *

"GET YOUR SLIMY SUCKERS OFF ME!" Raph screamed as the creature pulled himself and Casey inside the strange "volcano" like structure on its back.

"NO!" April shouted. "This can't be happening…this just can't…"

"ApRiL," The creature said, it's voice distorted…but very similar to the mom voice it had tricked her with. "We CaN bE tOgEtHeR! nO mOrE pAiN! nO mOrE sOrRoW!"

Leo, Mikey, and Donnie's faces seemed to force their way out of the creature's neck, causing April to take another step back. All three of them were repeating what the creature said, making it much more traumatic.

"OnE oF uS!" The creature exclaimed, it's face turning into mom once more.

"YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!" The girl screamed, covering her ears and trying to run for the exit…only to be caught by the same sucker thing that got Raph and Casey.

"wE cAn bE a FaMiLy AgAiN! iT's AlL wE eVeR wAnTeD!"

And April screamed, a gold light flashing from her head…

* * *

The air became thick to Claire and Vincent, almost choking them, in an instant.

The pressure was enough to make the baby scream louder than he had…and force all the air out of his lungs…causing him to pass out.

Claire didn't scream nearly as loud…bit soon found herself blacking out as well.

Sebastian rushed (as fast as he could) in the cramped space to the two turtle's sides, pulling the other babies off of them. Pulling the now unconscious Vincent from Claire's unresponsive arms, he pulled the baby's face to his ear.

The kid wasn't breathing…but his heart rate was too fast.

"LIZ!" he boy genius ordered. "Check Claire. Vincent isn't breathing."

The crimson masked turtle didn't hesitate while the boy turned back to the baby, pressing his mouth over the baby's and puffing air into the kids lungs, trying to force the baby to remember how to breathe again.

"Come on…Come on…"

* * *

It was all over.

After the bright light had faded, the bodies of six teenagers were visibly strewn across the floor, amidst parts of tentacles and slime.

There was a collective groan as the five boys groggily stood up, followed by April.

"Are you guys ok?" she asked as Donnie shakily walked over to her.

"Let me put it to you this way," The genius said, flopping an arm over her shoulder. "I'm pretty sure I swallowed 15 pounds of slime…"

"Ugh…I feel like if puke could puke, it'd be us…" Mikey groaned before turning around and retching out all the slime that entered his system.

Leo smiled at April as he patted his brother's back, knowing that she had been the one to save them.

"Wait…" Raph said. "Something's missing… One…" He pointed at himself, then Casey and April, and then his brothers. "Two…three…four…five…six… Where's seven?"

He was right! Bernadette was nowhere to be found.

"MIKEY! You were the last one who saw her. Where did she go?" Leo asked, kindly, but his voice full of worry.

"She was with me when I got eaten," Mikey replied, whipping the slime from his lips. "The thing ate her too."

"But then…where is…?" Raph asked, scanning the barn frantically.

In one corner of the barn, there was a large sac thing that kind of looked like a giant stomach. It was oozing slime.

Raph took a closer look. Inside he could make out the translucent outline of a …turtle! Without hesitation, he pulled out a kaiken and sliced the sac to pieces

The red masked turtle stepped back a bit to escape the torrent of slime, to reveal their little sister. He bent down and lightly slapped her cheek. "Bea…wake up."

Almost immediately, the multicolored-banded turtle blearily opened her eyes.

Before Raph could ask her anything, she promptly turned her head and threw up on the barn floor.

"Ugh!" Casey exclaimed in disgust, looking away from the puking turtle.

"Hey, Donnie?" Bea said between bouts of puking, "You know how you said that you think you swallowed about fifteen pounds of slime?"

"Yeah," Donnie groaned blearily.

"I think I swallowed_ fifty_ pounds….." Bea moaned, turning her head to puke again.

"How did you…?" Donnie began to ask began to ask how she could hear his exclamation, when she had been stuck in the sac.

"I have pretty strong hearing, big brother…..it gets annoying." Bea groaned.

"So, sis," Raph started, "Where were you stored? What was that thing we found you in?"

"Ugh…." Bea said, feeling nauseous again, "I w-was stored in the slime reserves….. That's the slime sac over there….." Bea said shakily between dry heaves.

* * *

Raph rushed, as quickly as he dared with his stomach acting up, to retrieve the smallest turtles.

When he arrived at the chicken coop, he found some chaos going on as Vincent was coughing violently, and both of Leo's children were unconscious.

"What happened?"

It was Cyprian who snapped around and replied. "It's all whatever you guys did's fault! We almost lost baby Vincent!"

The red masked turtle blinked. "What?"

"Th-There was a scream…and they just went unconscious." Sebastian replied, checking the runt's breathing once more, fingers trembling as if he was sure the baby would stop breathing again at any moment.

That frightened Raph and he seized the infant from the boy's arms. "Come. It's safe now." He turned to Liz. "Can you carr—"

"Way ahead of you, dad." The girl said, hefting her cousin on her shoulder.

* * *

Later that evening, after they had gotten Bea to stop vomiting, and were sure that Vincent wasn't going to stop breathing again (though Leo refused to put the baby down for a long while), they discovered that she had gotten sick from being immersed in the slime for as long as she was.

"Ugh, can I at least train with you?!" Bea asked as Leo gently put a thermometer in her mouth.

"Nope." Raph answered succinctly, looking down at his little sister, who was sitting on the couch.

"You've gotta recover, little miss. That means no training, no cleaning, and no fussing. Just relax. Cool off. Rest." Leo soothed, before taking the intruding device out of his little sister's mouth and handing it to Donnie.

"But I'm not even that little! I'm fourteen!" Bernadette exclaimed, throwing her hands up, getting ready to stand up and get in her brothers' faces.

"Stay down, sis. You've got a 99.5 fever. That's bad, especially for a semi-coldblooded half-human reptile, such as yourself." Donnie said, smirking at his use of words that she would most likely not understand.

"I don't even know what that means!" Bea shouted, planting her feet on the ground, getting ready to stand.

Her attempt at standing was foiled when Raph sat on her lightly.

"Unh, Raphie! Get off! Not fair…" Bea flailed her limbs, trying to escape the weight of her brother.

"You're not getting up, Bernadette, not unless you want me to sit on you all day." Raph said smugly.

Bea moaned, suddenly feeling very weak. She dealt with Raph sitting on her for a while…..and then she got a tickle in her nose.

She sniffed, "Uh oh….Raphie? You might wanna mo-ho-hove—ACHOOOO!" she sneezed very loudly, slime escaping her nostrils.

Raph got out of the way just in time.

"Ugh, ewww. Is being sick _always _this way…?" Bea asked as she peered at the slime covering her hands, arms, and thighs.

"Nope, it's only this way when you're eaten by a Kraang monster and kept in a slime sac for about a two hours." Mikey said as he walked into the room.

"Don't get smart." Bea snapped.

"Too late sis. I'm already Kraang smart." Mikey smirked at her, poking the only part of her nose that wasn't covered in slime.

Bea made a face at him and whined, "Does anyone have a tissue or towel I can borrow?"

At that moment, Donnie, who had left the room to procure those same items, walked in.

"Ugh, thanks." Bea said stuffily as she blearily tried to snatch a towel from his hands.

"Ah-ah. Stay put. We'll clean the slime off." Donnie said, noticing her sluggish attempt at grabbing a towel.

"Donnieeeee….." Bea whined, her eyes drooping and becoming unfocused before blinking open and refocusing.

"Beaaaaa…" Donnie whined back. "You're sick, leave it to us."

"Yeah, and besides," Raph started, "You won't get much of that slime off with your eyes drooping and crossing like that."

Bernadette glared at him, but her attempt at anger melted into a yawn as her brothers each grabbed a towel and started to scrub the slime off of her dark jade green skin with affection.

"Welp," Donnie began, "we got the slime off, but there's still a greasy left over substance on your skin, it leaves a sheen. You're gonna need a bath, missy."

"Mmh, _noooo_. Dun' _wanna_." Bea griped.

The boys could tell by her whining that she was getting tired. They needed to get this bath done quickly.

"Bea, this is for your own good." Raph looked her in the eyes before wrapping her in a towel and throwing her over his shoulder, heading to the bathroom.

"Unh, Raphie! Nose's drippy…" Bea moaned, her head thumping against her brother's shell as he walked up the stairs.

"We'll fix that in a sec, sis. No worries." Raph soothed, rubbing her shell a little through the towel.

The shell rubs only made her more tired.

She barely felt Raph plopping her into the bathtub, all she felt was the warm water and the affectionate hands of her brothers scrubbing the translucent, greasy after-substance off of her skin.

After the bath water was drained and Bea was wrapped in a clean towel, Raph picked up his little sister bridal style and the brothers put their little sister to bed.

But, as always, any attempt of Bea's brothers to do anything to her was not done without protest.

"_Nooo_," Bea whined when Raph put her on her bed and her oldest and youngest brothers started tucking her in tightly.

She reached her hand out and tightly grasped Raph's first finger.

"Dun' wanna…sleep." Bea mumbled, fighting sleep.

Her fight was useless, the bed was warm and comfy, so escape was futile.

"C'mon Bea, you can barely keep your eyes open. You're okay, just sleep, Baby Sis." Raph said gently, reaching up to stroke her cheek.

"No baby." Bea mumbled, the fire starting in her voice.

"No, sis, you're fourteen but you'll always be our baby sis." Leo smiled, gently removing her mask and rubbing her bare head.

"We'll see you in the morning, sis." Raph whispered as he let go of her hand, kissed her forehead, and cleared the way for his other brothers.

"Get well, sissy." Mikey kissed her cheek, "I'll make you some soup in the morning, 'kay?" he asked, knowing she wouldn't answer.

"Goodnight, Bea." Donnie kissed her forehead, "See you in the morning."

Lastly, Leo limped over to his tucked in sister.

"Goodnight, sis. Have good dreams." Leo said as he kissed her cheek.

Bea nuzzled her oldest brother's face before he stood up and left the room, leaving her to fall into the waiting arms of sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!**

**WE ARE TERRIBLE! WE ALMOST KILLED OUR BABY! (Vincent if you couldn't guess) ;A;**

**Also...sadly, more chapters may be a bit more slow coming. Due to circumstances outside of our control (Slight writer's block with other things) we haven't been able to write very much. Do not worry! We are NOT abandoning this. We just will be a bit slower in posting...We are very sorry about that!**

**We will be working another TMNT fanfiction in tandem with this one, so keep your eyes pealed for that!**

**~R&amp;R**


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: Look who's back!**

**Sorry about the massive delay and if this chapter is...not the best. Writer's block and life have been an utter mess...**

**Anyway...cuteness in this chapter! **

**Please leave us a review when you are done. Let us know what you like, what you don't like, and how we could improve.**

**(Side note: OH MY GOSH! THE NEW EPISODE!)**

* * *

Chapter 20

An atmosphere of happiness and calm washed over the farmhouse and its inhabitants after the remains of the strange creature were cleaned from the barn.

But it wouldn't last, as they all knew.

It started with Gianna, considering that she was the most advance of the group of infants.

The periwinkle bowed turtle started fussing one day, a normal occurrence, but no matter what her father or brother did, the baby wouldn't stop. She only seemed to find comfort when she was being fed or tired, though it was brief and the fussing would only return not too soon afterwards.

Eventually, Sebastian came to the end of his rope, and he handed his sister over to his father for evaluation, hoping that she wasn't sick, especially since the girl had taken to drooling on everything. (Though Donnie rationalized this saying that Gianna was a baby, she was bound to drool on things.)

That was, until Gabriel started joining into the behavior only a week after Gianna.

Finally deciding that "just being a baby" wasn't a good enough excuse, Donnie decided to evaluate the infants. It didn't take him long to find the reason (and could have slapped himself when he did): Teething.

By this time, Lucy had joined the fussy, saliva soaked crew, however the silver bowed turtle was worse than the others, especially since she had taken to leaving her mouth hanging open and let the drool just fall from her mouth.

At that point, Donnie sent April and Casey to the store with clear instructions to get Orajel and teething toys.

It didn't take long before Vincent also joined the crew.

He was sitting on his father's lap in the living room, watching _Crognard_, when it all started. The baby took very little interest in cartoon and was incredibly bored. On top of that, the swelling in his gums was incredibly painful. Although Lucy just let herself drool, the blue bracelet boy mainly just whimpered.

Which he did, at least until he noticed his father's fingers.

His dad wasn't using his fingers at the moment, right? Maybe he could use them to relieve the pain? Besides, he always wondered about his father's hands, more specifically his fingers. Were they like his own? Do they sound like his?

_Only one way to find out…_ the boy thought as he took his dad's finger and guided it into his mouth.

Leo, who had been focused on the TV show, jumped a bit when he felt Vincent's mouth on his finger. And the baby looked up, startled and a little worried, when his father flinched. Once the leader in blue saw what Vincent was doing, he relaxed slightly and turned to his smart brother. "Donnie, is this normal?"

Donnie looked over at him and smiled slightly. "Of course. He's teething, Leo. He's gonna chew on stuff. I've caught Gianna doing the same thing to my fingers. They are just doing it to relieve the pain in their gums. But I think I can find something better to help." He said, stood and left the room.

When the tall genius returned, he strode over to Leo and Vincent, a pacifier in hand. After coaxing Leo's finger out of the baby's mouth, he stuck the pacifier in a moment later. Vincent whimpered when the finger was pulled out and looked ready to spit the binky out…until he realized that it didn't jump away from him when he "chewed" on it with his gums.

"Thanks, Donnie." Leo said, sighing in relief. "Can you hold him? I have to go wash my hand."

* * *

Lucy was having a bad day.

Her gums wouldn't stop hurting…and it caused the baby to cry.

Loudly.

Mikey was holding her, bouncing her around, trying to get her to stop crying.

"Come on, my Sunshine…please stop…Oh you're so cute! I can't stand to see you like this…" He said, close to crying himself, seeing his daughter in so much pain.

They had just run out of Orajel and April was on an emergency run to the store. But she wouldn't be back for a while. It was quite a trip to get there, regardless of Casey's driving skills.

"Calm down, my beautiful darling, it's gonna be okay. Aunt April and Uncle Casey will be back in a little bit with the special medicine…just please stop crying, Blossom."

Unfortunately, the pain out won the influence of obedience, and the baby continued to cry and cry and cry.

* * *

"We have groceries!" April called, announcing their return.

The words had barely escaped the girl's mouth before Mikey was before them, his eyes desperate and mask soaked with tears, holding a screaming infant. "Gimme the teething gel, PLEASE!" he pleaded.

"She finally annoying you, eh?" Casey asked, reaching into one of the bags and tossing the gel towards the ninja.

"OH THANK YOU! And no. She's just so cute, I can't stand to see her like this…" The ninja replied, turning towards the baby in his arms. "Here you go, my Darling Sunshine. Open your mouth, Sweet Tart. That's a good baby girl. Here you go." He said, twisting off the cap and putting a drop on his finger before smoothing it over the swollen gums. "This'll stop the bad owies."

After a few minutes of sniffles and occasional whimpers and hiccups, Lucy started her normal routing of opening her mouth and letting the drool flow out.

However, this time, she had licked some of the gel on her gums and the numbing properties go the gel got on her tongue, leaving the muscle to hang from her mouth too like a puppy on a hot day.

Needless to say, there were more than just a few drool spots that day.

* * *

Fortunately, the phase of teething is only temporary. Within a couple of weeks, the flow of drool and the necessity of buying Orajel decreased (easing both the burden on the wallet and on the car). It was during one of these drool free days that found Mikey, Cyprian, and Lucy in the living room with Ice Cream Kitty, a bunch of pizza and _Crognard the Barbarian._

Mikey bounded onto the couch with Lucy and hand. "Oh no! Wizardess has been captured by the Mikeanator!"

Lucy, true to her character, held out her arms in front of her, as if casting a spell, and stuck out her tongue, blowing raspberries.

"Whatever shall be done?" Mikey asked in true narrator form before starting to "munch" on his daughter's arms.

Cyprian jumped onto the other couch, striking a "heroic" stance. "Wizardess shall be saved by Crognard the Barbarian! Fear my barbarian punch, fiend!" He shouted, jumping towards the next couch, attempting to tackle his father.

He only managed to graze the ninja before falling, but Mikey, quick on his feet, nabbed the boy's wrist before he could collapse and pulled him into a one armed hug. "Now the Mikeanator has Wizardess and Crognard! There is no one to save you!"

"Spooch! Save us!" Cyprian called, arm outstretched towards Ice Cream Kitty, who rested in her bowl.

The kitty of ice cream had been licking one of her paws, but turned when she was called for and hissed at the "Mikeanator". Mikey, hearing the playful hiss, moved back in play horror. "Oh no! Not Spooch!"

Ice Cream kitty shook a paw at Mikey, causing him to drop the two captives. "THE HORROR!"

Cyprian grabbed Lucy, who was laughing and ran to Ice Cream kitty. "Come Spooch!"

"Do you think you can escape so easily, Crognard?" Mikey called out, jumping and bringing the older child to the ground. "You cannot escape my … TICKLE RAY!" And with that, the orange masked turtle proceeded to tickle his children, who cried out in laughter.

Of course, it was at this point that Leo, Raph, and Donnie had to come in.

"Mikey! What have you done?" Leo yelled, looking around the rather messed up room.

Mikey's hands stopped, his head turning towards his brothers, then looking all around the room…to see a colossal mess, and it was worse than last time… There was pizza hanging from the ceiling, pillows scattered about, heaven knows what on the walls…it honestly looked like a bomb had gone off.

_Great…just great…_

"Seriously, Michelangelo!" Raph shouted, looking all about. "This is the third time this week."

* * *

Broom and mop in hand, Mikey stared at the mess around him, wondering how on earth this happened. He was just having fun with his children – something Leo had encouraged, but apparently this wasn't the kind of fun the older turtle meant. He knew he was messy, but this felt like things had gone into overdrive…

And the worse part was that he didn't have much help.

Cyprian, standing beside his father, held a spray bottle and a cloth. He would help as much as he could…but it was the baby that both of them were more worried about.

Lucy lay content on the floor, playing with her feet and rocking back and forth. Set in the least messy point of the room only meant that they had to start cleaning around it to make it safe for her…and knowing the little child, she could move fast.

Moving as quickly as possible, they started cleaning up a pathway through the mess. Lucy was content to play with her feet, but did look up once or twice to see what was going on.

Soon, a decent path was cut through the mess, and Mikey's mind began to wander. _Why does nobody appreciate me? I've done good things…right? _He paused in this cleaning. _…do they even want me around? Am I too much of a problem?_

He looked around the room, seeing the mess he had made and then his kids. Cyprian was trying his best to get pizza off the walls, and Lucy looked up at him as his eyes met hers. She smiled at him, and it melted the cold feeling in his chest.

_There are people that love and appreciate me… I can't just up and leave without them…and maybe we don't have to go away for long…maybe just some time together will do._

Mikey walked over and placed a hand on Cyprian's shoulder. "Once we're done here, I think we need a little family retreat."

Cyprian blinked, but soon smiled. "Ok, dad!"

* * *

**A/N: And that's all for now! Once we finish up the next chapter, we'll upload it. Thank you for your patience!**

**~R&amp;R**


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: Hey guys!**

**We are back again! Long time no see! Sorry about the delay.**

**Musicalocelot: We weren't sure if there was anything we could really add to A Foot too Big, that's why we didn't have a chapter dedicated to that. We will mention it in this chapter and the next, but we won't write it directly. **

**Enjoy our newest chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 21

With a small pouch of necessary items slung over his shoulder and Lucy, her thumb in her mouth, tucked into his arm, Mikey gazed out of the house as he waited for Cyprian. Maybe in another time he would have just run away. Maybe in a universe where his children didn't exist he would have no problem leaving on his own.

But this wasn't the case.

He couldn't leave the children he'd become so attached to.

Nor could he force them to stay away from their cousins forever.

"I'm ready, dad!" Cyprian called, prancing up to his father's side, a smile spread across his face.

Mikey smiled back and rubbed the boy's head, affectionately. Looking over his shoulder, he looked at the now clean lower rooms, his smile waning. He'd left a note for his brothers…but even then, he wasn't sure if they would come after him or not.

Or if they were still angry.

"Meow." Lucy called from her place, looking up at Mikey.

"No, Sunshine, Kitty can't come with us this time."

The baby pouted for a moment.

"But we'll see her when we come back." He continued, lightly tickled the baby's plastron. "Alright. Let's be off."

And with that, the three stepped deep into the forest.

To Cyprian, the forest wasn't frightening, at least in the daytime. He could see in every direction, maybe not as clearly as he could in the field surrounding the farmhouse, but he could see well enough that he wasn't afraid that something or someone would jump out and attack them.

Well, he couldn't have been more wrong.

As soon as the sun started to set, Mikey stopped in his tracks. The younger turtle turned to his father. "What's up, dad?"

Michelangelo was looking around, passing Lucy to Cyprian. "There's something close by."

No sooner had he said anything, a warrior call came from above. Mikey had only enough time to push the two children out of the way before a large green frog came from the trees, aiming for Mikey's head.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Uncle Mikey?" Claire asked, entering the living room. "He was supposed to show me that pizza dough recipe of his for dinner tonight."

Casey's head popped up from the table that he was fixing up and looked around. "I haven't seen him for hours. Did he ditch us or something?"

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he did." April piped up from the couch. "Considering how all of you treated him, you never appreciate him and all that he does for this team. Especially you, Raph!"

Raph, who had been playing patty cake with Gabriel, looked up, shocked and a bit confused. "What? That's not true! I mean…I get on his case sometimes…but…"

"It's not like what you did a few weeks ago, April."

April and Raph turned at the sound of Bea's voice.

"Whatcha mean, Bae?" Casey popped up.

"What I mean, Arnold Casey Jones the Second," The green masked turtle continued, turning from the window she was looking out of. "Is that April has no right to pick on Raph when she herself gave Mikey and I a hard time when we noticed something was wrong about her mother and she refused to consider our hypothesis until it was too late."

Casey and Raph blinked at the female turtle, both surprised at the fighting words coming out of the girl's mouth.

Leo raised a finger from the corner of the room.

"Don't even, Leo. I can fight my own fight." April said, marching over to Bea.

"Oh really? You can't train for as long as my brothers, Miss 'I'm almost a full on Kunoich'."

Before Bea could finish her statement, April's fist went flying.

But it never connected. Bea's hand caught the fist and she smiled. "You call that an attack?" She said, twisting the other Kunoich's wrist.

"OH…KAY now!" Raph called, stepping between the two girls, pulling their hands apart. "I get you both have something you need to get off of your chests. But you—"

He couldn't finish his statement, because a fist connected with his jaw, knocking him out of the way, before April pounced on Bea.

"ENOUGH!" Leo called out, jumping up and pulling April away while Raph and Casey held back Bea.

"Let me at her! No one gets away with hurting my brothers!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Leo shot back, his voice sounding scarily like Splinter's.

The two girls glared at each other from across the room.

"Fine." Bea conceded, pulling out of Raph and Casey's grip. "I've said my piece." With that, she scooped up baby Vincent from the floor where he sat and stomped up to her room.

Leo held a hand on April's shoulder until his sister was gone. "She's got a point, you know."

April glared at Leo.

"And not just in regards to Mikey either." Leo continued quietly, unnerved by the glare.

April's glare faded into confusion.

At that moment, Leo's eyes turned to look at Donnie who had just entered the room, and April's stomach sunk.

_He knows?_

Leo let go of April and headed over to his brother.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Donnie asked.

"It's resolved. What's up, D?"

* * *

"DUDE!" Mikey called out as he pushed his children out of the way of the frog. "Easy with that stick!"

The frog, not paying much attention to Mikey, swung a spear at the turtle's head, which the turtle easily dodged, followed by another attack. Mikey was too fast for the frog, catching the spear with his foot and snapping it out of the frog's hands.

The strange mutant looked at the turtle mutant for a long moment before jumping into the air and landing on Mikey's shoulders, slapping the ninja's head.

Lucy thought this was great fun and started giggling and clapping.

This was enough to distract the frog, allowing Mikey the chance to flip the frog onto the ground and hold him down. "Enough!"

The frog let out a strange sound before speaking in plain English. "Okay, okay, let me up!"

"Why are you following us?" Mikey demanded, not letting the frog up.

"Because this is frog land, gosh."

"And that's why you attacked me?"

"Obviously. That was a test."

"Test?" Cyprian asked.

"Obviously." The frog repeated, and Mikey decided to let him up. "You've got some pretty awesome ninjitsu skills. My name is Napoleon Bonafrog. I'm pretty much the best warrior ever."

The ninja turtle stepped over to where his children were and took Lucy from Cyprian. "I'm Michelangelo, a pretty epic ninja, and this is my daughter Lucy and son Cyprian."

"You're a dad! That's pretty awesome."

"Tell me about it." The ninja turtle replied, tickling Lucy's plastron.

"Since you are pretty awesome ninja, I might as well bring you to our awesome hide out. It's only the best place ever."

"Sweet! Lead the way, Napoleon!"

* * *

**A/N: Ok Guys! Thanks for your patience! The next chapter will take some time, but we will not be abandoning this story!**

**Please tell us what you think :)**

**~R&amp;R**


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hello all...sorry for being gone for so long! (life whacked me - Rachel - upside the head and we couldn't write as a result)**

**But we are back! And we appreciate your patience and hope that you will continue to be patient with us.**

**Welcome to the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 22

"Well, I found something that may help us locate Mikey." Donnie said, setting down his computer on the table Casey was working on. "Local news reports say that campsites have been recently ravaged by green lizard like creatures on two legs."

"Well that could describe Mikey, Cyprian, and Lucy…but why would they trash the place?" Raph asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah. Mikey's gotten a bit better with the cleaning since Lucy in particular came into his life." April added. "So this doesn't make any sense."

"Well, it's a place to start." Leo spoke up, rubbing his chin. "It sounds mutant related, so even if it isn't Mikey, it's still our job to take a look."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Casey asked, pulling on his hockey mask. "Let's go find some mutants."

* * *

Napoleon lead the small family to a large tree. It was so large and tall that Lucy fell back on Mikey's shell from her perch on his shoulders as she tried to see the top. Mikey gripped the baby's ankles a bit tighter so she wouldn't fall off while Cyprian helped get the baby back into a sitting position.

The frog, not noticing the baby's reaction, let out a loud croak…and an elevator like device made out of branches and vines came down from the tree top. After a moment for it to stop, Napoleon opened the gate and let the three turtles in before coming in himself. As the elevator began to ascend, the frog spoke again.

"I'll introduce you to the guys. They begged me to be leader but I was all 'I don't need that responsibility, I'm a free spirit.'"

"Sounds like a pretty big deal." Cyprian replied, looking around and holding onto one of the vines, not sure how he felt about this height.

"Being leader is a pretty big deal." Mikey said, simply, his eyes gazing far off, his mind elsewhere.

It didn't take long for the elevator to make it to the top, and Napoleon to open the door to a host of croaking, giant frogs. Unfazed, the green frog led the turtles towards a lighted area where two frogs of average size and a huge frog in the center.

"Napoleon," The biggest frog began. "You're back?"

"He always comes back, sire, like indigestion." Another frog with an acorn hat and what appeared to be long strands of flesh coming down from his nose giving the man a long mustache. "Why not stay away, boy?"

Cyprian, not really sure what to do and not feeling particularly welcome, hid slightly behind his father's shell. Lucy, now in Mikey's arms, was looking around, a smile showing off her new teeth.

"Rib, Rib!" She said, mimicking the sounds all around her.

Mikey, trying not to laugh, looked at her and put a finger to his lip. "Sh."

The baby looked confused, looking up at her father. "Sh?"

"Sh."

The baby took a breath and closed her mouth, looking around with her big blue eyes and big cheeks.

"Whatever, Genghis." Napoleon continued, turning his attention to the biggest frog. "Attila, this is Michelangelo, the best warrior ever, and a genius and stuff. And he brought his kids too, pretty much making him the best dad ever."

Genghis gave a scrutinizing look. "I doubt he's that smart if his a friend of yours."

"Shut it, Genghis, I don't care what you think. Gosh."

"Hey, chillax!" Cyprian said, gaining enough courage to come out from behind Mikey's shell. "Is that any way to talk to someone that you begged to be leader?"

Genghis and Attila looked at each other, then back at the young turtle in a white mask.

"Is that what he told you?" Genghis asked, his tone more serious than laughing.

Cyprian frowned. "That's what he told all of us."

Mikey, seeing that his son was slowly but surely getting worked up, reached out and snagged the ridge of Cyprian's carapace. Although the boy didn't back away, at least he relaxed his fists.

"Well, that's a wild tale, considering he is so clumsy he nearly destroyed our Sacred Tree."

Cyprian's mouth was open to make a response, but he couldn't. No words would come. He turned towards his father and then Napoleon. "Is…Is that true?"

"We demanded punishment," Genghis continued, "But he ran off…and found you all, I guess."

"Get those turtles out of here!" Another voice opposite Genghis cried out, drawing attention to a smallish hole filled with bottles. The frog in question was much lighter in color than Genghis, but thinner than Attila. He started stroking his beard-tentacles, and continued. "Turtles are not to be trusted. Why have a shell, save to hide things!"

By this point, Cyprian had enough. "WHY HAVE A SHELL? THAT'S MY SPINE! DO YOU _WANT_ TO SEE MY INTERNAL ORGANS! BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT'S IN THERE! THERE'S NOT MUCH ROO—oof."

Mikey, who's hand was still on his son's ridge, pulled, bringing his son close to him. "Enough, Cyprian."

The young turtle looked around and buried his face in his father's plastron, shaking with rage and distress.

"Enough, Rasputin." Attila said, standing. "You are distressing the child."

"But—"

"No excuses, Rasputin. I will have no more of this." Turning to Mikey, the big frog spoke again. "So, Michelangelo, what brings you to our home?"

"I was taking my kids on a little adventure in the woods for the night when we ran into Napoleon. He invited us over."

"So…why were you in the woods to begin with?"

"Oh, we needed some family time away from my brothers and our human friends."

Suddenly, the tone of the tree changed.

"Humans?!" Attila exclaimed. "Y-You have human _friends!_"

"Yeah…so?"

Now Attila was the one appearing distressed, tapping his webbed hand against his knee, as if debating something. Cyprian, who had turned his face away from his father's chest, was worried about the silence. What was the large frog up to…?

"Well, now you are free, and you may stay here as long as you wish." The crowned frog said.

Rasputin and Genghis looked to their brother in shock.

"But-"

"You're Majesty!"

"Enough. No more interrogation. Let the children and their father enjoy themselves on their family trip." The king looked at Mikey. "You may stay here as long as you wish."

"Sweet!"

"Thanks, Attila," Napoleon said with a smile, grabbing Mikey's arm and pulling the three turtles away.

Genghis turned to his eldest brother. "Why are you letting a friend of humans stay?"

"Because," Attila replied, his face darkening. "There's time to convince him that he's wrong."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is much shorter than usual. Please be a bit patient with us, the next chapter will take some time. But we will be back!**

**Leave a review, please!**

**~R&amp;R**


	24. Chapter 23

**A/N: AND 20 DAYS LATER...**

***bows repeatedly* We are so sorry! This chapter was very difficult for us to write.**

**Please enjoy the fruits of our labor!**

* * *

Chapter 23:

Lucy thought this vacation was amazing…and kind of like how things were at home.

In the morning, Napoleon would meet up with the turtles and Mikey would show him some "Sweet ninja moves," kind of like how Mikey and Casey would train back at home. It always turned into a lot of fun when the turtles started imitating their new frog friend, particularly by trying to catch flies – which they would fail.

Sometimes, the smallest turtle couldn't help herself and would try to do the moves like her father did. At one point, she found herself on her back…and a bit stuck. But instead of panicking, she began to rock and pull her legs over her head…stretching way more than a child, or a turtle at that, should.

With her feet beside her ears, she rocked once more and managed to flip onto her feet.

"Tada!" she gleefully cooed as she stood on her feet…for a good five seconds, before crashing face first into the brush.

And that's what caused her to cry.

Fortunately, the frog was close by and managed to scoop her up, ribbitting to her. Within moments, she was "rib-rib"-ing back.

* * *

"Ghengis, send warriors to retrieve the turtles still in the humans clutches."

"Yes, my king."

* * *

"I don't get this! I don't see any sign of Mikey anywhere."

Casey, who was lagging behind the rest after their adventure into the woods in attempt to find the youngest ninja and his children, looked up at the place they had called home. "Oh no…Look!"

"Someone trashed the place?!"

"It couldn't have been…Mikey, right?" Leo asked, looking at the stains covering the largest of the sides of the farmhouse.

"No." Raph replied, fully certain. "Not even on his worst day."

"And why would he write 'Human's beware'?" April continued, thoroughly confused.

"Yeah. It doesn't make much sense." Donnie added, then after a pause, started running towards the house, screaming. "Bea! Sebastian! GIANNA!"

Not a second after his daughter's name fled from his lips, a large, green, muscular figure knocked the tallest ninja to the ground. When the stars finally faded from his eyes, Donnie found himself uncomfortably close to a….frog.

A large, mutant frog.

Then, nothing.

* * *

"DONNIE!" Leo cried out, running towards his brother, his swords drawn.

"GUYS!" April said, looking around her, finding them to be surrounded by mutant frogs. "What is going on!?"

"I wish I knew…" Raph said, pulling out and twirling his sais.

"Turtles!" A frog said, stepping forward, two long tentacles coming from below his nose, like a mustache. "We have the little ones! They are safe."

"…What?" Raph began, his hands gripping his sais tighter. "Y-you took them!"

"For their own safety. Now they are free of the influence of the vile humans!"

"Vile?"

"Humans?"

"We do not wish to harm you, Turtles." The frog said, holding out a webbed hand towards them. "We are here to liberate you."

"Liberate us? BY TAKING OUR CHILDREN!" Raph screamed, and charged. He'd had enough of the talk, and his brother didn't mind following after him.

Maybe this had been poor planning on Genghis' part…but it got the response he needed. With a flick of his wrist, two frogs behind him lifted reeds to their lips and blew.

Two darts flew towards the turtles, one caught by Leo's blade and sliced in two, while the other met its mark. Within seconds, Raph was down.

"I'm sorry to have to do this…" The frog said softly. "But it's the only way."

Leo wasn't sure what hit him…but suddenly his world went black.

* * *

"So, in this New York place, you fight legions of Feet soldiers?"

"Foot Soldiers, yeah." Mikey smiled back at Napoleon as he finished up telling his tale. "Me and my brothers." Getting to his feet on the large branch they sat on, he hopped into one of Raph's boxing positions. "Raph, that's my brother Raphael, is all 'rawr' with his sais. Donnie, my other brother, hacks the bad guys computers – he's smart like that. And Leo…he's our…fearless leader."

"Wow! You're brothers' sound awesome. Mine just pick on me."

"DA! DA! DA!" a loud, desperate voice called from below, catching Mikey's ears and holding his attention. He knew that voice….

"Gianna…?" The orange masked turtle looked down in the direction of the yells to see seven frogs carrying seven turtles, ranging in size from small to large. Without missing a beat, the turtle hopped down to the main platform. "Hey! What's going on here! Why do you have my nieces and nephews?"

"HEY! WHAT AM I? CHOPPED LIVER!?"

"Oh, hey Bea. AND MY SISTER!"

"Hey Mikey. DO YOU MIND EXPLAING WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHY DOES THIS FROG HAVE ME OVER HIS SHOULDER LIKE A SACK OF POTATOES?"

"What she said!" Mikey yelled, turning back towards Attila, who sat on his throne overseeing the scene unfold.

"We rescued them from the humans." Attila said plainly.

"Ugh…" Mikey replied, running his hands over his face. "What is it with you guys and humans? What is so bad about them?"

"Wh-What is so b-bad about H-h-humans?" the large frog replied, looking flabbergasted as Bea, Claire, Liz, and Sebastian were placed in a rather large looking elevator/bird cage device. "There was once a time where we, the amphibians, ruled these swamp lands, peaceful and happy with no cares in the world. Until they…the humans…arrived with their metal monsters and destroyed our home, leaving us homeless and desolate. They needed more streets and malls and buildings and land…and they took it from us in the process. If things were to continue as they did, there would be nothing left for us!" The large frog gestured to his older looking brother. "Fortunately, Rasputin found a gift in the puddle below this tree…the sacred ooze!"

The strange, science-y frog lifted a jar filled with a green, glowing substance.

Bea and Mikey gasped. "Mutagen!"

Attila gestured towards his guards, having them bring Gianna, Gabe, and Vincent to him. "The greatest responsibility of the older generation is to protect the youngest from harm…and I fully intend to keep the children away from human influence….even if that means keeping them from you, human friend Michelangelo."

"Idiots! Why would you do that?" Napoleon asked.

"Because humans are inferior!" Rasputin said, as if to back up his brother.

Napoleon rolled his eyes. "Your mom is inferior. And that doesn't make any sense, Attila."

"It doesn't change what I intend to do." Attila stated firmly, placing the three infants close to him. "These little ones must be protected at all costs."

"Idiots…"

* * *

Lucy wasn't entirely sure what was going on…but something didn't feel right about it. The big frog had her in his arms, which wasn't uncomfortable, but there was something wrong with this picture.

She smiled brightly when her cousins joined her, reaching out, hoping to bop Gabriel on the head…but Attila was too tall…

She couldn't understand all of Attila's words, but they sounded strange, as if there was something wrong with his speech, as if he was scared. It shook slightly when he talked. But from what he said, the baby could infer that the big frog didn't like people like April and Casey.

As if by coincidence, at that moment, more frogs arrived, with three unconscious turtles and two humans in tow.

"Ba Jones…" Gianna muttered, watching the hockey masked human be stuffed in a cage with April.

Lucy blinked as she watched the scene before turning her eyes to her smallest cousin. Vincent's blue eyes met hers and he blinked, smiling before not. He looked in the direction of his sister…and something in the air changed.

Claire's eyes shot towards her brother's, immediately recognizing the oddness. She frowned for a moment…before nodding.

Vincent's eyes widened and he smiled. Stopping himself from clapping his hands, he looked up at Attila…and _reached…_

The air around Gianna became light and if you looked hard enough, you may have seen little flowers floating around her head.

Attila, whose eyes were on the very cute Lucy in his lap, blinked and turned to look at this new infant…and all he saw was…cuteness! It was too much for him. Carefully setting down Lucy and picking up Gianna as if she was made of gold. "Ohhhh! Who are you?"

* * *

Donnie, who was just recovering from the blow to his head, looked around. "Did anyone catch—"

Suddenly a pair of hands were on his mouth.

Leo's.

"Sh. Look!"

Donnie followed where Leo was pointing, seeing a sight that made his blood boil.

Attila was holding Gianna…

_HOW DARE _SOMEON_—_

But then he followed exactly where Leo was pointing…to see a speedy turtle _crawling _towards them…

_Lucy? What….? What's Gabriel doing?_

The other baby had his hands on his cousin's shell and was…walking…ish to keep up with the speeding crawler. On closer inspection, the tougher of the babies was actually hopping while holding onto his cousin's shell, almost as if he was going to leap frog over her, but wouldn't complete the move, content to hop up and down between her legs as she sped along.

Remarkably, there was very limited sound coming from the speeded infant, so the guard frogs didn't seem to notice.

After a few moments, the two infants made their way to the trunk of the tree, and they swapped. Gabriel leaned against the bark of the tree and after Lucy grabbed his ankles, began to shimmy up the tree.

Donnie heard Raph chuckle from his own cage to Donnie's left, obviously, he was impressed by his son.

While the going up the trunk was slower than that of speeding along the platform, Gabriel still made great time. When he arrived at the particular branch from which the cages hung, he continued his journey and soon the two infants arrived at Raph and Mikey's cages.

Lucy shimmied down the vine leading to her father's cage and managed to contort herself well enough to pull the door open before falling into her dad's arms. He smiled at her before his eyes became white and he dropped a smoke bomb.

Meanwhile, Gabriel did the same to his father's cage, but instead of using the smoke, Raph decided on going full ninja mode, clinging to the shadows.

Within moments, all the turtles and humans were free of their cages.

And it was only then that Vincent stopped what he was doing…and Attila and Rasputin noticed what had happened.

"What!" Attila cried out, setting a now not so cute Gianna down beside the other child. "How?"

"Ninjas." Mikey said, nunchucks out, and his baby girl in the arms of his son.

"GHENGIS!"

"Frog soldiers! Attack!"

* * *

"Napoleon!" Mikey cried while holding off some frog soldiers. "Get Vincent and Gianna out of there!"

Napoleon, who stood a bit shell shocked at the sidelines, looked over to see where the two infants were. They were no longer with Attila, who had joined the fight, fighting the katana wielding turtle, but were remarkably close to Rasputin.

Too close.

"A frog's gotta do what a frog's gotta do…" He said, making to leap for them…but a tongue wrapped around his legs, stopping him and throwing him to the ground.

"Where do you think you are going?" Rasputin asked, walking towards his brother with the same distain that he always had.

Napoleon's eyes narrowed, and the frog decided to show off what Mikey had taught him. "I think I'm…" He spun on his back before lashing out a kick to Rasputin's chest. "Going Ninja on your butt!"

Rasputin went flying, crashing into his lair, knocking over one of the candles…

Napoleon launched himself towards the babies in still by the throne, and snagged both of them as April called out.

"FIRE!"

The lanky frog, with the two turtle infants in his arms, leapt towards his eldest brother. "Attila! The Tree is on fire! We should totally flee!"

As if to accent his words, a flaming branch fell and would have crushed the big frog, if not for the quick thinking of his brother.

"Napoleon is right!" A frog cried out. "Let's get out of here!"

"Everyone, this way!"

"NO! DON'T FLEE! STAY AND FIGHT!"

Casey walked up to the big frog. "Don't take this the wrong way, Attila buddy." The hockey player said, before smacking him with his hockey stick and getting him out of the tree.

* * *

Cyprian was honestly was glad to finally be home.

While the experience with the frogs hadn't started out on a completely bad foot, he wasn't all too keen on leaving the farmhouse anytime soon for long periods of time.

Walking through the door, he smiled chipperly and walked over to the kitchen. Humming to himself, he took out some juice and poured a glass for himself.

After a moment, his father and sister walked in. Lucy looked a bit tired, and snugged into their father's shoulder a bit. When she saw her brother beside the fridge, she held out a hand and made a grabbing motion.

"Kitty!" She yelled, her voice sounding exhausted, before falling asleep.

Mikey's eyes widened and he looked at both his daughter and son emphatically, before dropping the hand not holding her and sighing. "Seriously…"

Cyprian chuckled as Leo walked in, Donnie, Bea, and Raph not too far behind.

"So…Does it bother anyone that four babies saved the day?" Raph asked, leaning up against the wall.

Bea walked over to the fridge and gave Cyprian a look. A look that he was all too familiar with from their days in Kraang "care". _Be quiet. Not a word._ And the child did as he was instructed.

However, this exchange didn't escape Leo's blue eyes, and the leader in blue raised an eyebrow. "Bea?"

"It was quite impressive!" Donnie added, stroking his chin. "Though I wonder how they accomplished it—"

"Maybe," Bea added, looking into the fridge. "It had to do with the fact that they didn't have us to help."

Now, Mikey was intrigued by that response. "That makes it sound like you know more than you are telling, Bea. Come on! Let us in on the secret!"

The female turtle pulled out a water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig before shrugging. "Maybe it was a coincidence." She said simply before walking out.

"Bea?"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed! **

**(Any missing scenes occurred pretty much the same way they did in the show)**

**WE OWN NOTHING!**

**And the mystery deepens... Any guesses? Leave a review!**

**Also, we will do our best to get the next chapter up in less than 20 days. No promises, since Rachel works...A Lot.**

**~R&amp;R**


	25. Chapter 24

**A/N: Hello all! (this update is much faster than others! Yay!)**

**Just a heads up: Bea is a bit OOC in the first couple of paragraphs, but we will explain. Promise.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 24

"Donnie's not breathing…DONNIE'S NOT BREATHING!"

Bea, who had stepped out of the room to get April some water to try and splash on her brothers, peeked around the corner. Things were a bit crazy today…and even though they weren't under outside attack, the thought of her brother not breathing was enough to make her sick.

But, she remained calm, surprisingly.

Or maybe not.

Vincent rested in her arms, looking up at her with a concentration unfitting for a child of his age. It wasn't unsettling, since Bea felt very peaceful at the moment, but it was certainly unusual.

Forgetting about the water, the teenage turtle walked back into the living room just in time to see Casey (Ba Jones as Gianna called him) throw a book in the air and slap it down with his baseball bat, metal parts going everywhere.

Within seconds of him doing so, a collective moan filled the room, and four masked turtles awoke.

"Oh my gosh! You are okay!" April practically squealed, placing a kiss of relief on Donnie's cheek.

But the man who didn't sleep – Bernie? Was that his name? – was flipping a gasket, screaming about how it was the end of the world because beavers were getting loose.

Once again, the air in the room changed as purple smoke exploded from the book. Vincent's eyes had turned from Bea, but weren't staring at anyone in particular, and a blanket of calm filled the room.

The change must have alerted Claire, who came running in with Lucy in her arms. They arrived just in time to see the smoke clear and four…plush size beavers stood not three feet from Casey.

"Wait a second…" The purple one said as he looked around. "Aw dang…"

Lucy, on the other hand, had a different reaction. She squealed and wiggled out of Claire arms before crawling over to Dave and wrapped the "plush" beaver in a hug.

"Maybe this isn't too bad," Dave said with a chuckle.

"SHUT UP, DAVE!"

"Wait…This is what I've been defending the Earth from for 40 years!" Bernie exclaimed, the blanket of calm doing absolutely nothing for his crazed mind. "Plush toys!"

"If I were you guys," Casey began, his voice remarkably calm. "You'd be—"

"Leaving." The purple beaver said. "My thoughts exactly. Come, beavers! Let us leave this—"

But Casey was having none of that and taped the beaver with his baseball.

"Alright. Alright. We're going…" The purple beaver said before the group vanished in a cloud of smoke. "Big bully."

There was a long moment of silence before Raph looked at his brothers.

"Alright. I don't know about you guys…but shouldn't our hearts be pounding in our chests from those nightmares?"

"Good point…But shouldn't we also be freaking out," April continued, her voice calm. "About the fact that Donnie technically almost died a few minutes ago…"

"We should be freaking out." Mikey said. "Why am I not freaking out?"

None of them noticed the baby in Bea's arms, smiling.

"Do you think one of them stuck around?" Donnie asked, looking under the couch. "I mean, those beavers were able to manipulate our dreams, they could possibly do that to our heads too."

"Possibly, D." Casey chimed in.

Leo's eyes fall on his son and he lifted an eyebrow. "Why do you look so proud of yourself?"

Vincent couldn't help but start laughing. His father's face was still covered in marker from Mikey's antics earlier that day, and it was too much.

This was too suspicious for Raph, who looked at his sister. "I think an explanation is in order, Bea."

Bea suddenly blinked, her facial expression shifted from contentment to confusion before her eyes became the size of dinner plates. Her pupils constricted as everyone's eyes shifted to her and her breath hastened. There was no convenient way to escape this one. Vincent had revealed himself…

Swallowing thickly, Bea nodded and bit her lip. "I guess…you all should sit down. This is going to take a bit of time."

* * *

Casey returned from the kitchen with seven glasses of water for the group of teenagers. April had insisted that Donnie in particular drink something before Bea started on her story, and the girl turtle had agreed. The four ninjas and the two humans sat on the couches and chairs, while Bea sat in front of the others, Vincent still in her arms. She had refused to relinquish him to Leo, stating that she needed him to complete the story she needed to tell.

Leo had looked a bit hurt by that, but didn't press, pretty sure that he would find out why by the end of the day.

Once everyone was comfortable, Bea took a deep breath.

"Alright. So…This story begins back just after the Kraang had cloned the twos…"

* * *

_****A/N: Italicized quotes are flashbacks. _Un-italicized words are Bea talking****

"_Kraang, are the ones called the second clones of the one that are turtles ready for that which is known as the examination?"_

"_Affirmative, Kraang."_

"_Kraang! Bring the ones called the second clones of the ones that are turtles to this place which is known as the place of examination."_

A single Kraang carried each of the infant turtles, placing each one of them on a variety of devices to measure weight, length, and color. Each device beeped affirmatively as three of the infant turtles were placed in them, confirming that they were each of healthy weight and size.

However, one baby didn't fit the mold.

"_Kraang! The one which is known as the second clone of the one that is known as the first turtle is lacking in that which is known as size."_

"_Explain this reasoning to Kraang, Kraang!"_

"_Kraang, the one which is known as the second clone of the one that is known as the first turtle is roughly two what is known as human inches smaller than the ones which are known as the second clones of the ones that are known as the other three turtles. Also, the one which is known as the second clone of the one that is known as the first turtle is also two that which is known to humans as pounds lighter than that of the ones which are known as the second clones of the ones that are known as the other three turtles."_

"_Is Kraang calling the one which is known as the second clone of the one that is known as the first turtle that which is called a Lilliputian*?"_

"_Indeed. What shall Kraang do with the one that is called the Lilliputian?"_

They debated among themselves for a long time, debating on letting the Lilliputian live or not. They had thrown away experiments in the past, but they had other options this time.

"_Why shouldn't Kraang use that is known as the special mutagen?"_

The other Kraang seem to consider this, keeping silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"_Kraang has that which is known as a point. Maybe the mutagen will make the one known as the Lilliputian that which is known as bigger."_

So, they situated the baby turtle on another table, while another Kraang retrieved a vial of blue/green mutagen. However, unlike normal mutagen, this one seemed to glow a bit more eerily, almost like the perfected mutagen that the Kraang had used in New York. After restraining the Lilliputian, one of the Kraang poured a bit onto the baby's head, causing the infant to scream…and scream…and scream…

But the hoped for result never came.

"_Why is the something that should be that which is known as happening, not happening, Kraang?"_

"_Kraang does not have that which is known as the answer to the inquiry that Kraang wishes to inquire. Maybe we should give the mutagen that which is known as some time. Maybe tomorrow will yield that which is known as a result."_

The other Kraang gave an affirmative, and they put the Lilliputian into an empty cage.

* * *

Bea stopped talking for a moment and placed her hands on the side of Vincent's head right over his ears. The child looked up at her for a moment, before becoming bored and playing with his toes. "The next part…isn't pretty. I don't think Vincent remembers any of it, and I do not wish for him to recall it."

After a nod of understanding, she continued.

* * *

The next day, however, yielded no result that the Kraang could see. The Lilliputian still was quite small, but the Kraang were sure that the mutagen did something to the turtle.

So they turned to their favorite form of finding out: experimentation.

I have no idea what they did to him, but from seeing what he did to the others, my older brothers, and myself, I can only assume that it was horrifying and probably illegal in this world. Particularly to an infant. However, I do know of one such event that changed things for the Lilliputian.

They were using some sort of blade, or at least were going to, when the Lilliputian couldn't take the pain anymore. There is no telling how long the torture went on for, but eventually the turtle reached his limited, and let out a terrifying scream. A scream similar to when April releases her powers, but different. The mere air in the room seemed to change. And not only that, it affected the way the Kraang behaved.

As far as I can tell, Kraang don't experience the emotions we do. Maybe that's a consequence of them using robotic bodies, but I can't be sure. But the Lilliputian seemed to be able to do the impossible: make them feel something.

One of the Kraang was so startled that they dropped the blade they were about to use, and sliced open their own brainy body. The cut was deep and went from right to left across the front of the brain, but what was worse was that the blade cut through their left eye. Unfortunately, the Kraang lost their eye. Fortunately (for them anyway), they were given a new purpose.

The incident changed the Kraang, and this one was able to speak and interact a bit better with the human population-

* * *

Donnie couldn't hold back anymore. He had figured out most of the pieces, but this had been something he'd never expected.

"So, you're telling us that Vincent has super powers…and is powerful enough to change even Kraang?"

"Pretty much." Bea said, shrugging her shoulders, her hands still over Vincent's ears. "The Kraang didn't want to waste their time on destroying a clone that they put resources into, but at the same time, creating something that could be very dangerous to them."

Donnie stroked his chin, before pausing. But it was Leo that beat him to the punch.

"Wait…so they are weapons?"

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN!**

**Well, some questions answered. (And Musical Ocelot: You were right...kinda...)**

**Please leave a review! Thanks!**

**~R&amp;R**


	26. Chapter 25

**A/N: I know...I know. "RACHEL! RENEE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! IT'S BEEN A MONTH!" **

**Well...a few days over a month...**

**A lot has happened this month, so we haven't really had a chance to work on this.**

**We haven't forgotten you guys! So here is Chapter 25!**

**Thank's for your patience!**

* * *

Chapter 25

"Wait…so they are all weapons?"

"Pretty much." Bea said simply, shrugging her shoulders. "Did you expect anything different from the Kraang?"

The four ninja's looked at each other, then back at Bea and Vincent. The fact that it hadn't crossed their minds before was pretty startling. They had just accepted the cute faces under their roof without any question, and now felt as if they had fallen for a trap.

"Believe me," Bea said slowly and carefully. "We have no malicious intentions. But if you wish us to, we'll leave."

"NO!"

Both Bea and Vincent were taken back by Casey's response. Until this moment, the hockey vigilante had been so quiet that the turtles had forgotten that he was still there.

"I mean," the dark haired human continued, all eyes now fixed on him. "It doesn't matter, right? Family is family, regardless of any crazy, Kraang-y super powers the kids possess. They are still blood, right?"

Raph smiled, turning towards his sister. "Casey's got a point, Bea."

"We aren't going to send you all away." Leo said, standing and holding out an arm for Vincent, who immediately grabbed at his father's fingers. "We promised that when we sent you here."

"I guess," Donnie piped up. "The only real difficulty would be that we don't know what the Kraang can do to you all from a distance. But that isn't going to stop us from stopping them."

"Bea-Bea, don't cry!" Mikey suddenly said, jumping from his chair to hug his sister.

Tears were streaming down the girl turtle's face, some getting stuck in the fabric of her mask while the rest dripped down her chin. She leaned into Mikey's hug and soon found herself at the center of a large embrace with the rest of her brother's surrounding her like a fortress.

"I-I couldn't h-have asked f-for better b-brothers." She sobbed out into Mikey's shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you."

* * *

Bea spent the rest of that afternoon informing the rest of the gang about each of the youngest members of the family's unique abilities. Each of which they had been born with, unlike Vincent's special gift.

The Kraang had somehow managed to activate Gabriel's muscles to break several limitations (including size to strength ratio), effectively turning the little turtle into a turtle form of Superman.

Whereas they traded strength for flexibility for Lucy, allowing her to twist into a turtle pretzel if she wished. (Mikey found this incredibly hilarious, and it took him a good minute before he was able to reel in the laughter).

Gianna's mind was an interesting one. Bea was pretty sure that Gianna's smarts were all activated by the Kraang, but was also pretty sure most of it was natural. Although the child suffered some limitations (her lips not being able to form words while her mind could fathom them being the biggest), her genius could probably beat Donnie's under the table. Said genius ninja turtle found this to be interesting and wondered what could buzz around his daughter's head.

But Bea didn't stop there.

Apparently the seven year old clones also had their own talents, though not nearly as impressive as their smaller counterparts.

While not being as sensitive and powerful as Vincent, Claire did have a unique ability to sense danger and could determine accurately a person's intentions based off of a few details (a gift she had honed under the Kraang, when fear over who would be tested on next was a big deal). "Excellent Ninja abilities, if you ask me." Bea added. "She was – literally – born to be a ninja."

Liz was also the same way. Her strength exceeded a few limitations, but on the superhero spectrum probably only ticked in with Iron man in his suit.

Sebastian was also incredibly smart, but not nearly to the level of his sister. If Bea had to guess an IQ score, he'd probably be around the same as Donnie. However, he was better with his hands than with his mind, and could probably build anything he wanted without hesitation.

And last, but not least, Cyprian was pretty much the Flash. Whereas his sister had been given flexibility, he was given speed. Although he could move more freely than his cousins, he was ultimately faster. As Bea had described it, the small white masked ninja was fast enough to take something out of your hand before you even noticed he had moved, and that was when he was trying to be fast.

Donnie had made mental notes of each case, for study later. The key to knowing what the Kraang were capable of doing with the children lay in their individual abilities. Although, arguably, Vincent's was the most immediate of threats, should the Kraang decide to pull something, each of the children were at risk. Pulling out one of the notebooks he kept handy, the genius ninja started making random doodles.

Mikey was practically begging Bea for stories about the children and their abilities. Never in his life had he thought he'd meet actual superheroes! And it blew his mind away just thinking about it.

Leo had taken Vincent from Bea's arms and was rocking his son to sleep. His face calm, but his mind running in circles as to what he could do to protect the little boy in his arms. With such a big threat out there, it was more pertinent than ever for him to recover and find a way to get them back to New York to stop the Kraang.

And Raph sat in his chair, absorbing all the information that had been given to him. His thoughts tended to mirror Leo's, but involved more Kraang butt kicking…especially for what they had done to the children.

There was a lot that needed to get done…but it wasn't going to get done all in one night.

* * *

Gianna was sitting in the light purple baby seat that April and Casey had bought for her, completely and utterly bored.

Said humans had bought the seat so that Donnie could keep a close eye on his daughter and not have to worry about her getting into potentially dangerous chemicals or inventions.

At first, Donnie was skeptical, thinking that, soon, his daughter would find a way to unclip the strap around her waist, but – surprisingly – the clasp on the strap was too small for her big fingers to handle, accompanied by the fact that Gianna couldn't push hard enough to unclasp it.

So, reluctantly, the baby genius sat in the seat, completely uninterested in the scenery around her. She had seen it many times before, so nothing was new and interesting.

Her dad and Uncle Casey were working on a small car for Casey, and Donnie had to work very hard to do some of the things he wanted to do.

Gianna, on the other hand, knew of easier ways to do things that her dad wanted to do, but she couldn't communicate them. The struggle of being a genius trapped in an infant's body.

As a result, the baby girl was very frustrated and fussy.

She tried babbling her plans to her father, but they always ended up drowned by her underdeveloped speech.

At one point, she got so frustrated that she started screaming and crying, refusing to stop until her dad took her out of the seat and held her for a little while.

After she calmed down, Donnie placed here back in the seat and went back to work.

That was how it stayed…until a chicken wandered into the barn.

At first, Gianna was content to watch the chicken walk around, completely unaware of the other inhabitance of the barn, or ignoring them in general. For a moment, Gianna wondered what it was like inside the mind of the chicken…it must be different from her chaotic mind…

But that contentment left as fast as it came when the chicken hopped up onto Donnie's work desk in between Gianna and the jar of mutagen gasoline, knocking it over in the direction away from the turtle child.

Surprisingly, the sound of the jar falling over did not alert Donnie or Casey.

"Da! Da! Muschen!" Gianna yelled, slightly frightened by the green goo.

"Not now, Gianna, I'm busy." Donnie answered, grunting a bit as he turned a rather difficult piece of machinery on the car. "I'll be over there in a moment."

Gianna wasn't sure what to expect from the chicken, but she didn't expect it to stoop down and drink some of the shiny liquid.

And this only caused the baby turtle to scream louder.

"DA! MUSCHEN! SHICKEN!" She screamed, kicking her legs and staring as she witnessed the odd mutation of the chicken.

At that moment, Mikey wandered into the barn, a farmer's hat firmly planted on his head. "Here, chick, chick, chick. Where are you, little chicky chick chick?" Mikey called, before he saw the unusual…thing on Donnie's desk. "Oh…snap…"

Maybe it was because it was Mikey, but Donnie and Casey's heads lifted quickly from what they were doing to see what was going on…and suddenly understood why Gianna had been yelling.

The chicken looked relatively normal….well, if you got rid of the giant brain that swelled from the chicken's head!

"Oh no…Not again, Mikey!" Donnie whined, frustrated that his little brother could not grasp the concept of keeping an eye on the chickens and keeping them out of the barn.

The chicken looked around the barn and waddled over to the computer on Donnie's desk, starting to type in codes, codes that Donnie had considered for the AI of the car.

"These codes are great! If only we could have this type of smarts running the vehicle…" Donnie sighed.

"Can! Can!" Gianna yelled, her speech getting a bit clearer. "No hay eye!"

"What?" Donnie asked, looking confused. What did cans, hay, and an eye have to do with a car?

Gianna grumbled.

"NO. Hay. Eye!" The infant said slowly.

"Still not followin' ya, squirt." Casey piped up.

The baby groaned loudly in frustration. "NO HAY EYE! JUICE SHICKEN! SHICKEN ON CARR!"

When the infant saw the confused looks on the three teenage boys' faces, she gave up and started screaming, garbled words ever so often escaping her mouth.

At that moment, Donnie headed over to his little girl, lifting her out of the seat, trying to soothe her.

No one noticed that the chicken had opened a word document and started typing, until a loud squawk from the bird drew everyone's attention.

On the word document, statements were written.

"You can! You can! No AI.

No. AI.

No AI! Use the chicken! Put the chicken in the car!"

At that, Gianna's sobs stopped and she smiled. If she hadn't been held by her father, she would've shot for the chicken, but she settled for reaching for the bird.

Donnie obliged, allowing the child to wrap her arms around the soft chicken feathers.

Finally, someone completely understood her!

"Okay, so based on what Gianna said, maybe we don't need artificial intelligence, maybe we just need—"

"DR. CLUCKINGSWORTH! M. D." Mikey chimed in.

Donnie gave his brother a funny look. "Oh…kay. Maybe Dr. Cluckingsworth," He said reluctantly.

"M.D., bro. M.D."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you like it! Please leave us a message.**


	27. Chapter 26

**A/N: WE AREN'T DEAD!**

**Sorry this took us so long.**

**But we haven't forgotten you all! This chapter was difficult to write, but we are proud of how it turned out.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**PS: THAT NEW EPISODE, THOUGH!**

* * *

Chapter 26

Days seemed to blur together, misadventure after misadventure filling weekly activities. From racing with demons to fighting giant chimeras. It was nice when the gang actually had down time.

And this usually came in the form of story time.

Shortly after waking from his coma, Leo had discovered that Claire and Vincent usually fell asleep easier after hearing stories. Plus, it was an opportunity for Leo to try to get Vincent to say more words.

The runt of the group hadn't said another word since Leo woke from his sleep, and that bothered his father. Especially since Lucy was speaking words and Gianna was speaking garbled sentences. Gabe had been making sounds similar to words, but even he was more "talkative" than Vincent.

So, to encourage speaking, Leo would tell stories about the adventures he and his brother's had had in New York.

"Which story would you like to hear tonight?" The leader in blue asked as he tucked in his children.

The two looked at each other, passing some kind of look before looking back.

"What…" Claire began, hesitantly. "What happened to Jii-san's daughter?"

Blinking in response, Leo should have guessed that this would come eventually. He had mentioned the princess of the Foot Clan from time to time, but not in detail. He guessed that Splinter had talked to her a bit more about Karai before they had traveled out to the farmhouse.

Regardless of the circumstances of Claire obtaining this information, she had asked for a story.

Situating himself better on the edge of the bed, Leo took a small breath before beginning his tale.

"_Once upon a time…not very long ago, there was a Princess who wasn't sure which kingdom she stood for anymore. The one that she grew up in, but was losing the sense of honor that had been a key part of her life…or the new opportunity that a small group of knights had presented._

_The man she had called father for so long was slowly becoming more and more focused on revenge, while the Princess was becoming more and more aware that there were greater problems in the world than that, especially in regards to an alien force that threatened to eliminate not just her kingdom, but the rest of the world, too._

_Then, one day while hunting for the knights, she realized the truth of her birth – that she had been kidnapped as an infant and raised under a new name. And that knowledge, coupled with giving the choice to turn the knights over to the man she called father or to protect them from the man's crazed vengeance, lead her to defect, coming to the knights' side._

_However, this choice was not as easy as she had hoped, for not too long after, she was captured and imprisoned in the place she had called home._

_The knights, confronted with the fact that she had defected to their side at the last moment, debated among themselves as to whether or not they should free her or not."_

"Why would they do that, tousan?" Claire's voice interrupted.

"Because," Leo replied, slipping out of his storytelling voice. "Trust isn't built in a day. She had been the knights' enemy for a long time."

The younger turtle nodded, and the ninja continued.

"_It was only after the knights had faced the king of the kingdom that they realized that the princess was held against her will and imprisoned. It was only then that the knights agreed that the princess needed saving._

"_After careful planning, they figured out a plan that used the best of each of their abilities. The genius would monitor the situation and provide back up and cover. The trickster would provide distraction of the enemies by means of his shadow skills. And the leader and the fighter would sneak in and bust the princess out._

"_All was going according to plan…at least until the dark king's most powerful guard found them…"_

At this point, Claire's eyes were wide open and fully concentrated on her father. Vincent's face was blank, but his eyes were wide as well.

"_Thanks to the genius' resourcefulness, they managed to get away with only a few scratches, but left the guard doubled over from a loud whistle."_ Leo couldn't help but smirk at that. _"But they were not out of the woods yet. Once they made to their mighty steads, they rushed away as quickly as they could, but were in hot pursuit by the minions of the king._

"_During the chase, one of the minions caught up to the steed carrying the princess and snatched her away from the knights. But they would have none of that. They had already risked so much to retrieve the princess, and they refused to come back empty handed._

"_Reflexively, the eldest knight pulled off some defensive moves on his steed, hoping to catch the minion off guard and give the princess a moment to escape. However, he couldn't see if his attempts were helping or hurting, as he was also trying not to hit the buildings surrounding them._

"_Eventually, by sheer luck, the knight was able to maneuver his steed in front of the dueling princess and minion long enough to catch her as his brother shot the minion out of the way. Once the Princess was safely with them, the knights decided it was time to disappear….and vanished into the night."_

Vincent's eyes were drooping and he was leaning into his sister, whose eyes were also drooping. Leo smiled at his kids and pulled the blanket up to cover them. Leaning down, he kissed both of them on the head and whispered. "Good night."

* * *

The next day was like any other day at the farmhouse.

Mikey was in the kitchen, cooking food for lunch.

Donnie was in the barn, experimenting.

Leo and Raph were dueling it out in a video game, and April and Casey were watching.

And Gabriel, not wanting to be far away from his father that day for some reason, had taken up residence on the floor by the couch in the living room, "training" with the "big boy punching bag" (aka: a pillow that Raph had set up on the floor for him), to keep him occupied.

Save for the occasional shouts of triumph or sighs of defeat, all was pretty normal.

That was until the pillow moved.

It was only a slight move, but Gabe knew that pillows didn't just move on their own. Balling up his fist, he prepared to strike it…but it moved again…

Relaxing his fingers for a minute, he decided to investigate rather than slap. He lifted the pillow, and instantly regretted it.

A roach appeared under the pillow…and started skittering across the floor.

The baby turtle skittered in the opposite direction, eventually his shell hitting the small table in the center of the room, and let out a cry of terror.

The sound was so unfamiliar to Raph that he instantly paused the game, and Leo didn't complain. Both of the ninjas looked at the baby. "What's wrong, bud?" Raph asked.

Before Raph could complete the question, the roach moved – towards Gabe, who let out a shrill screech.

Casey covered his ears. "Wow! That kid's got a set of lungs!"

The roach continued to move, and if it was possible, Gabe's voice raised several decibels more.

Sighing, Raph lifted his son off of the floor and rubbed his shell, attempting to comfort the little turtle. It took a moment for the cry to calm down. "What's wrong, buddy?"

Once Casey was sure that it was safe, he removed his hands from his ears…but had to cover his mouth to stifle his snickering as he looked at tough Raph comforting his baby.

Gabe shook his head and buried his face in his father's shoulder.

"I can't make it go away," Raph said gently. "Until you show me what's wrong."

April, also a bit shocked by uncharacteristic behavior of Raph, had to cover her mouth as well.

After another few moments of convincing, Gabe finally looked up from his father's shoulder and pointed at the floor, where the roach was, and opened his little mouth. "W-w….WOASH!"

Raph's eyes followed his son's finger and came face to face with his greatest fear…a cockroach…

A look so deadly serious it stifled Casey's giggles covered Raph's face and he passed his son to Leo.

"Raph?" Leo asked, confused since he could not see the thing that Gabe had pointed too. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you handing Gabe to me?"

The ninja in red pulled out one of his sais. "I've got a roach to hunt." And with that, the ninja began bouncing around the room, trying to slay the roach that dared to distress his son.

Leo gently bounced the baby, keeping the roach out of the child's view, soothing the child best he could while his brother bounced around the room on a roach hunt. "It's ok, Gabe. Daddy's gonna take care of it. Nothing's gonna hurt you while your dad's around."

Gabe, still slightly traumatized, was still gasping for air. The soothing words and back rubs were helping, but he was still struggling. After several long moments without any change, April slid over next to them and held out her arms.

"Here," She said. "Let me try."

"Are you sure?" Leo asked. "He can be a handful."

April nodded and kept her arms out. "Yes, but I'm gonna need your help. Help me get him on my shoulders."

Leo could have slapped himself. Why didn't he think of that? Bea had pointed out some time ago that when in distress Gabe was known to climb onto people's shoulders and curl up like a cat.

It took a bit of doing, but eventually they got the baby turtle onto April's shoulders, and slowly the child began to relax.

"There! Perfect!"

The child was just beginning to close his eyes when Raph stopped. The red masked ninja nodded to his brother, and headed outside to discard of the carcass of the bug. When he returned a moment later, Gabe had fallen asleep on April's shoulders.

"Wait…did anyone notice that Gabe said 'roach'?"

* * *

"Alright, gang, if you can clobber Kraang, you can crack logs. Watch and learn."

Bea scoffed and rolled her eyes. Seriously. Did she have to watch this? Of course she knew how to crack logs. It wasn't that hard when it came down to it. All she needed was to strengthen her wrists, knees, and ankles.

It was Casey and April that needed to learn to break logs.

What followed Raph's short instructions was a very graceful-looing kata, which was met by a bored looking April and Bea, and a smirking Casey.

Finally, the red masked turtle cracked three logs in rapid succession.

Adjusting his belt, he turned to look at the three pupils and smiled. "You like that?"

Bea couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"You're turn, April."

"Sure you don't want me to soften it up for you, Red?" Casey taunted.

"Just hold it straight. Wouldn't want to miss and accidentally kick that smug grin off your face." April teased back.

Bea groaned softly. Did they really have to start flirting _now?_ And it wasn't even a good tease!

"Aw snap!" Mikey said, perceiving the flirting as smack talk.

"Remember," Donnie pipped up. "It's not only physical strength that breaks the wood, it's also inner strength."

_Pff…yeah right. _Bea thought to herself. She didn't believe in the "inner strength", "Spiritual, centering yourself," and "becoming one with nature" hoopla aspects of ninjitsu.

She just put up with it for her family's sake.

Nature and inner strength hadn't saved her in Dimension X, so how would that help now?

All that could help her was whatever her mind came up with, and whatever the Deity that created and governed the universe gave her.

In the midst of Bea's musings, April had tried to kick the log and crack it in Casey's hands, but only ended up shoving Casey and the log into the mud.

"Oh!" Donnie taunted. "I wish I could see that on instant replay! How's that mud taste, Casey?"

Bea smirked.

Before Casey could reply, they heard a thump behind them.

Turning quickly, Raph was already on the move, hurrying to Leo's side. Mikey and Bea were not too far behind, with Donnie picking up the rear. Mikey and Raph helped Leo stand while Bea allowed Donnie to examine him.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Mikey inquired.

"I had a realization in the woods." Leo answered shortly.

"That going out with a bum leg was a _bad_ idea?" Raph asked, sarcasm saturating his tone. Which left a slight smile on Bea's face.

"No. It's just what I need. What we all need." Leo started.

_Oh no…_ Bea could practically guess what was coming next.

"We're so caught up in t-phones and junk food and TV that we've become at odds with nature. A true ninja must become one with it to master himself."

This was the part that Bea disliked the most. She'd learned to master herself in every way except her temper just by controlling herself.

In the other dimension, she would've died if she hadn't controlled herself. It was a necessity. A necessity she had learned when the Kraang had killed her other brothers.

The "nature" that Leo was talking about was non-existent in the world she grew up in, and if she already mastered herself mostly without "nature", what was the point?

What made nature so important?

"Even Master Splinter did it." Donnie added, "He said, 'Only when you become one with nature can you make peace with yourself.'"

"'Make Peace'? What are we, hippies? We're ninjas!" Raph cut in.

"He's got a point." Bea added.

"We'll do three days of meditation and practiced awareness in the wilderness, only eating what we can forage." Leo decided.

"Three days!" Mikey whined. "We're gonna live like animals!"

Leo looked up at his sister, shaking his head slightly. Bea nodded back, relieved.

She wasn't going.

"I think Leo may have taken one too many kicks to the head." Casey whispered to April.

Fortunately, Bea caught it and growled at him, causing Casey's eyes to widen.

"No," April replied, louder. "Leo's right. Camping's a great idea! I'm tired of being stuck at the house."

"Sorry, April." Leo said and, supported by Raph, started to walk towards the house. "This is a personal trip for my brothers and I. You're not ready yet. Ninjas only."

"B-but, I'm almost a kunoichi!" April protested.

"Yeah! Almost!" Raph called back.

"Cool, looks like we'll be stuck at the farmhouse. Together." Casey told April.

Bea saw the sour look forming on Donnie's face and added. "Yeah, and me, and all the kids."

"Wait…Bae, you're not going?" The hockey player's face collapsed into confusion.

"No. I'm not ready yet. This journey is too advanced for me. Besides," She added, a sickly sweet smile spreading across her face. "You two will need help managing four seven year olds and four babies."

Casey took this in stride, following after the five turtles into the house, leaving a still stunned April in the yard, with a muddy log at her feet.

* * *

**A/N: And that's all for now! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave us a review. We missed you all! And we will have a new update as soon as we can!**

**~R&amp;R**


	28. Chapter 27

**A/N: Hi guys! We are Not dead!**

**...sorry that this took so long...**

**(Rachel: I've been...dealing with a lot of stuff...please don't blame Renee here...)**

**We do have a sneak peak for a new story for you guys, because our story is OFFICIALLY A YEAR OLD!**

***Throws confetti***

**But we're sure you want to get started on "Vision Quest"! So...ENJOY!**

* * *

Chapter 27

After the four ninjas had left for their soul searching journey, things were a bit quieter at the farmhouse. Sure the children were loud from time to time as they played, but besides that the house felt somewhat…empty.

But life carried on as semi normal. Though Bea and the young clones had grown use to their brothers/fathers being present, they had lived a considerable amount of their lives without them. A few days would be no different.

After all, Leo had said they would only be gone for a little while. And when had Leo ever stared them wrong.

Or so Bea had been trying to convince herself as she copped wood for warmth and training. April was still trying to punch the log in half…and failing, much to Casey's enjoyment. The past few days had been quite quiet, and Bea wasn't sure how much of the emptiness she could take.

"Well, I didn't want to go on the journey, anyway…" She muttered to herself. "I'd only slow them down…"

And no matter how true that was, part of her wasn't nearly convinced. She wasn't April or Casey.

…but then again, she wasn't her brothers either.

She gathered the wood in her arms and turned towards the farmhouse, when something caught her eye. Later, she wouldn't be able to tell you what it was that drew her attention. Maybe it was a change in the light, or maybe some movement. But no matter what it was, something was different. And that difference set her on edge.

She jumped when she heard a noise.

A loud rustling sound shattered her silent thoughts, startling her.

Bea peered over her shoulder, searching with her eyes and ears for the source of the sound.

Soon, she found it.

A deer.

A stupid deer.

That's what scared her. She could've slapped herself. Everything in the woods made her so paranoid, especially being there at night.

Sighing in frustration, she turned to start her small excursion home, when she jumped again.

That stupid deer that caused her previous fright was standing right in front of her, its nose about a foot away from her forehead. She flinched yet again.

Dang, this deer was sneaky.

"Okay, deer," she said a little nervously, "I don't want to hurt you and I don't want you to hurt _me_, so I will kindly ask you to shoo. Get out of here please."

She took a few sidesteps, but the deer followed her.

After a few minutes of 'are you going to get out of the way or not,' Bea had enough.

"Ugh, what do you want!" she groaned in frustration.

Suddenly, the deer's nose was on her hand.

It was _nudging_ her hand.

"Yes?" she asked, regardless of the fact that she would get no answer.

The deer looked at her and promptly ran off in another direction.

Bea let out a sigh of relief, now she could go home.

About five steps later, Bea's eyes widened as her rump was hit.

She quickly turned around, ready to slap anyone who dared hit her rear end.

Instead of some wise guy looking for a reaction, she found a deer.

Her offense at the action lessened a little bit.

"What do you want now?" She whined.

The deer nudged her hands toward the ground, finally forcing her to drop her firewood.

Well, the house was visible, so if anyone wanted to find her, at least they'd get the wood.

Then, the deer bit on her wrist wraps and pulled her a little.

Now she understood.

"Oh, you want me to follow you?"

The deer nodded its head and set off at a trot away from the house.

Bea followed.

After following the deer for a little while, the deer vanished.

Bea considered yelling for it, but it was a deer, it couldn't answer her and, anyway, she didn't want any unsavory characters to find her.

In the midst of her rapid searching, she didn't notice that she walked backward into a tree, making a loud _thunk_ sound.

She heard muffled, distorted voices in the distance.

Her eyes widened in terror.

No one could find her. That would endanger her family.

She kept her back to the tree, too scared to breathe.

There were footsteps, but the voices stopped.

Then, she heard he telltale whistle of a projectile flying her way.

In a flash, her arrow was drawn and she shot the projectile.

A thud sounded as it hit the tree.

It was a shuriken.

Her brothers!

"Bea!?" the boys exclaimed in surprise.

She was so happy that they were okay, but then she remembered that she wasn't supposed to be on their journey.

"Um…hi?" she said bashfully.

* * *

Leo set down the extra wood for the campfire and looked around at his brothers and sister. They all looked tired, and - Mikey in particular - looked hungry. Unsure of what the next step would be for all of them, he took a seat next to Bea.

He wouldn't deny that it was nice that his sister was there with them…but this was a journey that even she herself had said wasn't for her. Yet, a deer – though Leo wasn't sure if it was the same one as the one who beat him up – had led her, very forcefully from her story, to them.

Maybe she was needed here too. For what, Leo could only guess.

Taking a deep breath, he chucked a piece of wood into the fire.

And the flames exploded in a blast of blue flame.

"LEO!" Raph squealed, his voice cracking a bit. "What diD You dO!"

"I-I just added more-"

But the flames weren't done yet. They cycloned for a moment, before revealing a familiar figure.

"MASTER SPLINTER!" The five turtles gasped.

"A-Are you…a ghost?" Mikey reluctantly asked the ghostly figure.

"My spirit has become detached from my body," Splinter responded, "but my body still lives."

Leo noticed Bea's brows furrow, as if trying to understand the meaning of their father's statement. "You're alive!" the leader in blue cried out, standing. "Where are you, Sensei? Let us help you!"

"You cannot, yet." The master said, turning his ghostly head towards his eldest. "There is much you must overcome. If you cannot find your inner strength you will not be able to face the Shredder."

"But, Master….my leg injury is physical…until it heals…"

A cool, almost airy hand touched the leader's shoulder. "We choose what holds us back and what moves us forward."

Leo nodded and sunk to his knees.

The ghostly Splinter looked at each of them before continuing. "Each of you struggles with an inner boundary. In order to face the challenges that will come on your journey home, you must face them out here, alone. Each of you must go off alone and face this demon and however it chooses to manifest itself." He turned to look Raphael in the eyes. "Raphael, your temper is like a fire that you must learn to focus for power."

Turning his head to face Mikey, the master continued. "Michelangelo, your mind is overrun with distractions. Learn to be strong and calm like the forest."

Mikey's eyes narrowed, and he nodded briefly.

The master turned to Donnie, who was still playing with his phone, but put it down the moment his name was said. "Donatello, you rely too much on your mind and not enough on your body. Be strong, like the mountain."

Like his younger brother, Donnie replied with a nod.

Bea's face collapsed into a bit of terror when her father's eyes turned to her, and Leo could practically feel her anxiety.

"Bernadette, you are haunted by many memories and they cloud your judgment and stiffen your body. You must learn to be fluid, like the ripples of water."

The young clone's hands tightened on themselves, but she forced herself to nod in response.

And without batting an eye, Splinter turned to Leo, and the leader suddenly felt a surge of guilt and failure.

"Leonardo, you must be a leader in body and spirit. Be like the wind, let nothing weigh you down." The master did not wait for the leader to acknowledge his task. "Rest, my children, for your greatest trail begins on the Spiritual Plain. And they are just as dangerous as those you face in the real world..." His spirit began to fade. "Be warned…"

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**A/N: Alright...so this is a bit shorter than some...and we will do our absolute best to give you guys more ASAP!**

**And as promised, our sneak peek of our next project is below. It's a Hotel Transylvania/TMNT crossover...ish. It has a similar plot, but none of the characters from HT are present in the story. We've called it "Shiro Kame", and as soon as we have chapters edited for publishing, we will put them out!**

**Behold! The Sneaking of Peeks!**

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_What if monsters aren't always the bad guys?_

_I mean, the Beast wasn't the bad guy in the end, right? He was just a kid that got caught up in the wrong thing because he didn't let a stranger into his house. _

_It's humans who assumed that he was bad. It's humans that make up stories about monsters in an effort to justify that the monsters are the bad guys and the humans are always good. It's because of appearances most of the time. Monsters are bad because they LOOK bad. Humans are good because humans LOOK normal._

_But just because a Human looks normal, doesn't mean that they are good. It was, after all, not that long ago when a normal human did this to me, my daughter, and my son. It was a normal human who…_

_I guess that's what it's like right now…but, maybe not all humans are bad…_

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**A/N: DUN DUN DUN!**

**Anyway, thank you so much for reading! We'll get a new chapter for you guys ASAP. You guys are the best and please leave us a review.**

**~R/R**


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